Photo of the Week: Feb. 29, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: This week's photo is culled from my first visit to the Ruchama Forest in the western Negev, where I found the forest floor gloriously awash with abundant red anemones. The Ruchama Forest is one of JNF's "Scarlet South" destinations helping to promote tourism to the region. The flowers are currently at their peak and will be peddling their beauty for about another two weeks.

The spectacle merited two visits and on the second occasion I brought my 17-year-old daughter, Adina, a talented, budding photographer. After three hours, exhausted, she showed she had learned the most important lesson of all: "This is hard work, Abba," she remarked.

The Ruchama Forest is nearly not, as there are as many stumps as grown trees, mostly Eucalyptus in various states of dishevelment. Eucalyptus trees are famous for making a big mess wherever they grow, shedding both bark and, at times, massive limbs. The scene stirred an unsettled mood in me that was reflected in some of the images I shot.

See a gallery of images from the Ruchama Forest

I wanted more order and less debris, but nature has its own path. This image does three things to overcome that feeling: it captures the romantic glow of early morning, it hides the chaos by disguising the trees in near blackness and it shows off the carpet of kalaniot. The entrance to the forest is just opposite the community of Ruchama on Highway 334.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D300, tripod mounted, manual exposure, evaluative metering mode, f11 at 1/320th sec., ISO 200. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-105 mm zoom at 44 mm. Date: Feb. 21, 2012, 8:11 a.m. Location: Ruchama Forest, Western Negev, Israel.

Photo of the Week: Feb. 22, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Stroll through a field of wildflowers and there are thousands of picture possibilities. How do I decide where to stop and point my camera? One approach I take is building on what I've done in the past. When I encounter a subject for the second or third time, I look for ways to capture it anew, such as this photo of a Cyclamen in its early growth stages. Cyclamen or Rakefet in Hebrew, are also known as "Solomon's Fire" because they grow like burning fire, their flame-like petals shooting upward, often clustered around rocks or at the base of trees.

If you get out early enough in the season – as in right now – you will see the cyclamen in various stages of growth in forests and fields alike. The biggest difficulty for the photographer is that they grow very low to the ground. This requires a belly-flop shot, lying prone with the base of the camera pressed against the ground, in this case in the vertical mode. It is nearly impossible from this position to see through the viewfinder, so I relied on the camera's autofocus feature to lock on the subject. With my Nikons, I can move the focus point around the frame, selecting the position where I believe the best focal point is located. Composing in the dark is more difficult. I chose an angle which presented the flower with side light and played around with its height so that the petals are framed by the darker greenery in the background.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D700, handheld, manual exposure, spot metering mode, f4.5 at 1/2000th sec., ISO 400. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-105 mm zoom in macro mode at 105mm. Date: Mar. 7, 2011, 8:24 a.m. Location: Ela Valley (south of Beit Shemesh), Israel.

Photo of the Week: Feb. 15, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I feel compelled to tell this story, because it speaks so much to the challenge of living and working in Israel and how often there is more to a photograph than what meets the eye. I made this image on the Golan Heights in northern Israel about four years ago. Travelers to the Golan are familiar with warning signs marking areas where explosive mines buried in the ground may remain from the Yom Kippur war in 1973. Seeing just a single sign makes one wonder how anyone really knows which fields are safe and creates a deep sense of anxiety when going off road there, even in unmarked, presumably safe areas.

I shot this photo from a viewpoint along a secondary road. Across from where I stood was a battered, barbed wire fence strung with numerous, yellow "Danger Mines!" signs. They are not merely a bitter reminder of the past, but an ongoing obstacle to our enjoyment and utilization of the land. To get this image, I kept my feet firmly planted on the pavement. The challenge in this photo was working the composition to offset the monochromatic color display. Everything is green, albeit in different tonalities and textures that ultimately merge together quite nicely, even though the photo lacks a center of interest. More subtly, the metal fence posts that enter from the photo's bottom left corner combine with the foreground rock to lead the eye into the photo. I utilized my elevated position on an embankment to shoot down, thus capturing the different height levels to full effect as well. A nice document of early spring, Israel's most glorious season.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D-200, mounted on a tripod, manual exposure, evaluative metering mode, f11 at 1/125th sec., ISO 400. Raw file converted to Jpeg. Lens: Nikon 28-70 mm zoom at 46mm. Date: Mar. 3, 2008, 7:09 a.m. Location: Golan Heights, Israel.

Photo of the Week: Feb. 7, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: To mark Tu B'shvat, the New Year for Trees, which is celebrated this wee, I bring this image of fig leaves in late afternoon sunlight. It is traditional on this holiday to eat from the seven species that describe the land of Israel in the Bible (Deuteronomy 8:8) and which includes figs. I found this shot while working with a young student, trying to demonstrate how photography can be an adventure if you're willing to dig beneath the surface, bow under a branch or crawl on your belly in the sand. The tree was thick with leaves and in order to get this vantage point, we had to pull back branches and duck our heads to get under the thick canopy. Once inside, we discovered a world of unusual photo possibilities not visible along the outer perimeter of the tree.

I like this shot because it illustrates perfectly how an artist can use the camera to make a personal statement. An ordinary subject takes on a new identity when seen with the setting sun bouncing around to form a unique play of light and shadow through the layers of leaves. The image is an abstraction from the larger tree, yet the leaves remain identifiable because, with little effort, their unique shape becomes quite obvious to the viewer. May the winter rains continue to replenish the land of Israel for another year of growth, within and without.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D-700, handheld in manual exposure, center-weighted mode, f4.2 at 1/60 sec., ISO 400. Exposure set to sunlit highlights on the leaves. Lens: 28-105 mm macro zoom in normal position at 64mm. Date: 9/27/11, 4:52 p.m. Location: Efrat, Israel.

Photo of the Week: Feb. 2, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: Nearly two-thirds of Israel is desert: rocky, barren, and devoid of water. So whenever I find a new and unexplored water site, I am like a kid in the candy store. I discovered the Dishon Stream quite by chance while driving in the Northern Galilee region en route to Tzfat. I am an advocate of taking at least a short walk outdoors every day, so it was a simple decision to divert my trip to explore this hidden watershed.

I remember this spot because I sat on a rock cooling my feet and enjoying a midmorning snack. Dried fruit and nuts fueled both body and mind as I paused to listen to the rush of water over rock and contemplate the setting before setting up to shoot. Whenever I want to slow down water and reveal its movement, I push my camera to its extremes: smallest aperture, lowest ISO and a leisurely shutter speed as well. This objective was complicated by the amount of light hitting the scene with the sun high in the sky. Even on the smallest light settings, I was limited to a 1/10 second exposure, just barely enough to give the water the milky textures seen in this photo.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D-300 on a tripod, manual exposure, spot mode, f22 at 1/10 sec., ISO 100. Decreased exposure by one stop to prevent overexposing the white areas in the water. Lens: Nikon wide angle zoom, 12-24 mm, at 13mm. Date: 3/16/09, 10:32 a.m. Location: Dishon Stream Trail, northern Israel.

Photo of the Week: Jan. 22, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I love it when the landscape changes attire. The more dramatic, the more exhilarating, and nothing dazzles quite like a fresh blanket of snow on hills that stay quietly green or brown throughout the seasons. For a country that averages about a foot of snow every three years, even the threat of a storm can bring life to a halt. While there have been snowstorms in Israel to compare with the Nor'easters of my childhood, the frozen flakes never hang around for long and since I left the tire chains in the garage back in Massachusetts, it is impossible to travel at the peak opportunities for taking pictures.

All of the snow photographs in my library were taken within walking distance of my home in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem. I selected this shot of grapevines bending under the weight of fresh powder as an offering to the weather makers to please bring us a few flurries this year. The storm had already cleared by dawn so I headed out to catch the sun while it was low on the horizon and before the snow melted and disappeared. I shot back in the direction of the sun, as I almost invariably do when photographing trees and flowers, but in this case it was the best perspective to highlight the opalescent sheen on the vine tendrils. Some days the weather turns the land into a once-in-a-lifetime scene. It was certainly enjoyable in the moment, and likewise when I return to that morning in pictures.

TECHNICAL DATA: Nikon D-70, 18-70 zoom at 38mm, f11 at 1/800 sec., ISO 400.

Photos of the Week: Jan. 12, 2012

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: For those of us who live in a winter climate, the first blossoms of spring are always a welcome sight. In Israel, the almond tree is the traditional harbinger of spring, as pink and white-tipped new buds and even full flowers often appear weeks ahead of other trees. To me, it's as if they are saying, "We know it's cold here in January, but we're going to bloom anyway." They flash their strength and beauty during the darkest days of the year, despite the cool air and limited sunlight.

Almond trees grow wild in Israel and are abundant in the Judean Mountains south of Jerusalem, where I make my home. I shot these buds and blossom 10 minutes apart on the same day after venturing out into a thick fog during a winter squall. It was midday, and these images convey the mood of those moments: dark and damp, yet powerfully fragrant and bursting with hope as the new growing season emerges. I used a tripod and chose a wide aperture to keep the depth of field to a minimum, which creates a soft, clean background and trains the viewer's eye on the drops of dew clinging to the delicate petals.

TECHNICAL DATA:
Upper photo: Nikon D-300, 28-105 mm macro at 105 mm, f5 @1/320th sec., ISO 400.
Lower photo: Nikon D-300, 28-105 mm macro at 98 mm, f5 @1/800th sec., ISO 400.