Photos Of Landscapes

Home and garden news and notes

ON THE SHELF: BOOK ADVOCATES ECO-SMART GARDENING</p><p> Gardens aren't always green - as in environmentally sensitive, that is.</p><p> Gardens and the tools and products used to maintain them can waste water, gobble resources, contribute to pollution and harm wildlife. But garden designer and sustainability advocate Alice Bowe helps readers create landscapes that are easy on the Earth with her new book, High-Impact Low-Carbon Gardening.</p><p> Bowe's book teaches the principles of sustainable landscaping and helps her readers put them to work in their own yards. The photos in the book show plenty of examples of those principles in action, so readers can see just how beautiful green gardening can be.</p><p> High-Impact Low-Carbon Gardening is published by Timber Press and sells for $24.95 in softcover.</p><p> WHAT'S NEW: KIT GIVES COUNTERTOPS A CONCRETE VENEER</p><p> Your tired countertops can get the look of concrete with the EZ Top resurfacing system.</p><p> The concrete overlay can be used on most countertop materials, including plastic laminate, tile, marble and granite. It goes on in multiple thin coats and is designed for use by either professionals or do-it-yourselfers.</p><p> The product comes in white or gray and can be tinted with a colorant you order separately, or stained after it's installed.</p><p> EZ Top can be ordered from the Stamp Store, 888-848-0059. A 6-gallon kit covers 60 square feet and regularly costs $99. Shipping is extra.</p><p> --- </p><p> Q&#38;A: CHIPMUNKS A CYCLICAL PROBLEM</p><p> Q: My neighbors and I have noticed an unusual abundance of chipmunks in our yards. Has there been an unusual infestation of these rodents in recent years?</p><p> A: Chipmunk nuisance reports are right on average this year, said Scott Peters, wildlife management supervisor for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Northeast Ohio district.</p><p> What you might be seeing is the normal cyclical rise and fall in the balance between prey and predator, he said. When the population of predators such as foxes and coyotes is large, they feast on chipmunks and other small animals and reduce their numbers. Then, once the food source of small animals gets low enough, the predator population declines and the prey population rebounds. Your area may just be experiencing that rebound phase.</p><p> Trapping is probably the best way to get rid of chipmunks, but it's a temporary solution at best, Peters said. Chipmunks are extremely common, he said, and even if you remove them from your yard, others will move in. "There's no silver bullet," he said.</p><p> --- </p><p> (Mary Beth Breckenridge can be reached at 330-996-3756 or mbrecken@thebeaconjournal.com.

Photography Subjects: Landscapes | Tips - The Photo Argus

The subjects of landscape photography are vast and wide – and can be interpreted in many different ways. Rather than go into the specific subjects most commonly used (i.e. lakes, mountains) – I want to talk about the bigger picture – what elements make a successful landscape photo. This will help turn whatever environment you’re in – from the desert to the mountains – into a limitless canvas for your landscape images.

Lines and Layers

Two basic concepts in any area of photography are lines and layers – and landscapes are no exception. Strong lines lead a viewer throughout your photo and layers create interest that grabs your attention and keeps you glued until you take the entire composition in. Image content can be either simple or busy, and yet still have lines and layers.

This photo of the Smoky Mountains above is the perfect example of using leading lines and layers in a landscape – the gradual transition from light to dark outlined by the sharp separation of the mountains is quite dramatic.

Some of the most powerful landscape photos are ones that say very little. There is great strength in using negative space as your subject – the trick is being able to find it. Foggy days and snowy landscapes are fantastic for this kind of approach since they provide the perfect blank canvas – it’s then up to you to decide where to place your focal point.

It’s much more difficult to put a landscape photo into context than it is to simply capture the beauty you see – it can take a bit of creative thinking and the use of unique perspectives as you’re typically dealing with subjects you can’t manipulate. However, when you’re able to tell a story with your camera, the results are unparalleled.

The strongest landscape images are ones that have one prominent focal point – and sometimes many more. Foreground interest is a great place to start and is a fantastic way to compliment a landscape. If you come across a beautiful sunset or a dramatic mountain range, take a look around your scene and find additional interest that you can compose your photo around. This simple method can turn your average travel snapshot into a powerful landscape composition.

The most important tip I can give when searching for landscape subjects is to (at first) focus on your immediate surroundings – or at least those within distance. Many landscape photographers become fixated on where they live and the lack of landscape opportunities – mountains, oceans, fields of flowers, and so on.

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