The Hill Country around Austin, Texas, contains large areas where pink granite dominates part of the landscape. In fact, that area supplied the pink granite used in the Texas State Capitol.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I went to a state park with a macro photographer friend of mine to look for and photograph lichen on those pink granite rocks. This is one of those photos I captured at Inks Lake State Park (the same place I got the hawk and squirrel photo posted in NPN’s Avian category last week). Climbing those rocks was half the fun. Whenever we would look closely, there would be a whole different world before our eyes. Sometimes the lichen looked like mountains of sage green and bright orange. At other times, lichen and moss would give wings to our imagination. Here I saw a boneyard surrounded by bright orange peaks in this macro image. The color contrast and intense, crispy textures captured my eyes. Lichen tends to differ from moss in the sense that there is less moisture we perceive. More to my amazement, I could still see some of the pink granite hiding underneath it all. Then, the side light created valleys and peaks of light and shadow.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I am always surprised at what I see when I do macros. In addition to surprises that the naked eye cannot see, I often find colors more saturated in macro photography. The unexpected is often what drives me to macro photography. This photo is no exception. The orange hues were the first things that stood out when I was walking by this area. So, it’s no wonder they appear more luminous with sunlight. Although I am happy with the end result, I realize that about half of the original image was lost because I did not get closer to the subject. “Fill the frame,” I’ll have to remember. Cropping helped me put the shallow DOF front and center. The corners of the photo were not very bright from the start. Thus, I did not have to do much of a vignette there. On the other hand, the bottom portion of the photo was bright because of the sage green lichen. I dodged it a little to reduce highlights there.
Technical Details
I used a monopod for stability as I lay my camera down on the ground to make this photo. Topaz Photo AI, Luminar Neo, and Lightroom were used for photo development. My intent with this photo is only for social media.
