Some characteristic scenes of Whidbey Island have consistently defied my attempts to photograph them in Black and White. Basically, the harsh environment has stripped off too much of the colorful spirit of structures leaving a false impression of lifelessness. Or, as in the case of the statues by Roger Sherman, the surrounding trees create a rather drab background. Therefore, I set out with several battery-powered flashes, flashlights and color gels to try a different approach. I even broke down and used a digital camera so that I could adjust the lighting during those few minutes while the sunset light might be correct. The resulting images are essentially "as shot," with digital processing only to reproduce the raw appearance in the camera.

The same technique worked well for the next 3 images at Ft. Casey, but without the color gels. These helped me set the exposures on my film camera for B&W images.

The final 3 images are from experiments in heavy digital processing to force interesting images during a rainy, overcast day. Given that the November rains are upon us, I think that I'll be using these approaches for the next few months. The color is rather outrageous, but that's my compensation for the dreary atmosphere right now.