My home is neighbored by Discovery Park, a grand and expansive oasis of nature within the Seattle city borders. Lucky to live so close, I've become familiar with its many trails. The flora and wildlife here were my inspiration for reinvesting myself in photography and have been ample subjects for my continued experiments.
On last Tuesday's walk I wanted to mix things up. Spring blossoms had begun to form, so I grabbed a longer lens and one of my larger camera bodies to match, and hiked up the hill to start playing around.
March 18, 2025 | Fujifilm X-E4 + Fujinon 55-200 f3.5-4.8
Standard Color (Provia Simulation)
Standard Monochrome
Acros Film Simulation
One of my goals on this trip was to compare Fuji's two monochrome film simulations, "standard" monochrome and Fuji's Acros emulsion. To be honest, the differences appear slight (I'm not the only one to come to this conclusion). From both this shot and others I took, I have a slight preference for "standard" over Acros.
Magnolia blossom buds along Texas Way.
Hidden crook of a tree in the park's Capehart Forest.
The lone blossoming tree (plum, in this case) that I could find in Discovery Park.
Further monochrome experimentation, this time with color filter simulations. More on that subject in a future post.
Any hiker in the Pacific Northwest knows they're near skunk cabbage long before they see it. A pity that the aroma and name give it a bad reputation, because the golden blossoms and broad leaves are gorgeous. I might start calling it by one of its alternate names, swamp lantern.
While the bright yellow of the blossom is quite striking (see the first photo of this post for an example), I'm loving the texture and drama that is pulled out in monochrome. Here, as with the plum blossoms above, this is using a color filter simulation built into Fuji's cameras. I've been experimenting more with those in the past week, and I'm planning a future post about the differences.
While the bright yellow of the blossom is quite striking (see the first photo of this post for an example), I'm loving the texture and drama that is pulled out in monochrome. Here, as with the plum blossoms above, this is using a color filter simulation built into Fuji's cameras. I've been experimenting more with those in the past week, and I'm planning a future post about the differences.
