Phototropism or Gravitropism?
I have had more than a few observers of this image point out the growth direction of the large oak tree. It seems to grow outward from the slope at an angle, yet perpendicular to the slope. This has prompted me to “do some investigating”, as Sid the science kid always says (if you have children younger than 7 years, you know who he is). There are two major influences on a plants directional growth. Sunlight and gravity are the major players. Obviously, phototropism suggests a plant growing in the direction of a light source, mainly the sun. Conversely, gravitropism simply states that a plant’s roots will grow with gravity into the ground while the branches and stems will grow against gravity above ground. I’ve watched youtube videos of students science projects and scoured numerous definitions of the two phenomenon on the internet. I’ve come to this conclusion: neither has anything to do with this old oak growing almost sideways out of the slope. My guess is gravity, but not in the way gravitropism implies. You see, most of the other trees are growing perpendicular to level. Case in point; the pines at upper left. Whichever, this stately tree looks amazing when dressed in a fresh dusting of snow. Beyond phototropism and gravitropism, it was just a matter of me holding my precarious state of balance against this heavily angled slope while waiting for the sun to pop through. That would be me reacting to the phenomenon of phototropismography!
New tricks from the old dog!
My first encounter with wildflowers this spring has arrived, albeit nothing too impressive. This spring is lagging, mostly due to colder temps hanging on longer this season. I’m optimistic this season will be good for certain locations, while some other favorite locations may not deliver. The main reason for this is the native grasses have flourished in those areas and have not been grazed. Grazing the grasses could clear the way for a late bloom, but not something to count on. 
This was my first trip to Carrizo Plain this season and I think a good bloom will be on the way. For this day, the only memorable display was a cluster of Phacelia near the south entrance. Conditions were good on this afternoon, so to make the best of this photo op, I decided to employ a couple new techniques. I wanted to get in real close to the blooms and bring out as much detail of the flowers as possible, yet I wanted to include the excellent sky that was happening. I chose a vertical orientation. Then I utilized a focus slice. Simply put, I recorded three exposures on a tripod, each time focusing on different areas of the scene. For the first, I focused on the nearest flowers. The second, the middle-ground blooms and finally the third focusing on farthest flowers along with the horizon. I later combined these images in Photoshop and using layer masks, blended the focused slices to provide extreme depth of field. From the nearest flowers all the way to the distant horizon were all in focus. The second technique was to then pan upward to take in more sky. As well, I later manually stitched the sky with the first image framing to create a vertical pano that included infinite depth of field with the full sky as a compliment to the vivid blue blooms. I was lucky to have such a dramatic sky and yet have almost perfect calm conditions to allow the flowers to be tack sharp. Combining the two techniques resulted in a unique visual representation of what I encountered, giving the impression that the wildflowers carpeted the entire landscape!
10,000 Hours
The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell is a good read. In the book, Gladwell outlines an ideology that defines true success and proficiency in a given ability. He states that the threshold for success is to have performed the given task or ability for over 10,000 hours. He relates it to many success stories, one of which includes the Beatles. He suggests that the Beatles played in many types of venues for many years as youths, sometimes playing 8 to 10 hours a day. By the time they reached American shores, they had amassed thousands of hours performing, thus giving them an uncommon cohesiveness. I have been behind the camera for over thirty years, but doing the math means I would had to have been involved in some form of photographic practice for a minimum of 7 hours a week on average. No possible way. For recent years, that might hold true, but in the past, there were years where that figure didn’t even represent my monthly input. At one time, I worked in a photo lab printing color prints as well as many other related photographic duties, so that experience could factor in quite favorably. If this theory relates to photography in a broader sense, it might get me closer to that number. But even in that scenario, I’m guessing somewhere around 6 to 7 thousand hours is closer to my actual input. So I have some work to do. I’m excited, however, about the opportunity for great improvement. Obviously, the last remaining 3 or so thousand hours should enrich my talents greatly. Now, onto convincing my wife what remains and what is needed! Wish me luck!
Mark’s Journal
