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The Fire Tower.

Erick Fromm

New member
I spend a lot of time in an abandoned fire tower that is close to my house. I go up there to unwind and listen to nature. It is missing pieces and eventually I will not be brave enough to fall 67ft down. Every year I tell myself this may be the last but it still stands year after year. When the wind blows it moves a little and it makes you uneasy. I had to overcome a huge fear of heights to get myself up into this tower. I can still remember the first time I walked up the steps. I was just a boy and my Dad took me up there for a look. He worked for the forest service and installed radios in the towers. So i got to see it before it was vandalized. It's my favorite spot to sit and relax and just watch the light move...
efromm22.jpg

Self Portrait.
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Looking Toward Montana. I was sitting down shooting and having a drink.
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Looking toward Canada. I love to be up there with the clouds.
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This is the last set of stairs before you reach the tower.

I am pretty sure these photos are as shot from the camera.
 

John Angulat

pro member
Hi Erick,
I believe the tower would allow for an impressive series.
It is a wonderful vantage point, especially the view off towards the lake in the distance.
From there you might capture approaching storms and changing weather patterns, maybe a fog filled valley, or simply capturing the same view at various times of the day!
 

Erick Fromm

New member
Thanks John! I have a bunch of photos from the tower. I go there as many times as time will allow. It is my favorite spot to take photos. Some days are a bust others are nice. Here are a few more photos from up in the tower.
P1050036.jpg

This my friend Matt. We rode up on a rainy day that day. Luckily for us the rain did not get us wet.
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This photo was taken after the first snow of the year. The fog was coming off of the snow that day.

This is a slide show I made with some of my photos from the tower. Click the photo to watch.
 

John Angulat

pro member
Ah! So you have been there over the course of changing seasons!
Wonderful!
I hope that rickety old tower stands for some time!
You've got a private retreat and photographic vantage point.
Life is good!
 

Erick Fromm

New member
Ah! So you have been there over the course of changing seasons!
Wonderful!
I hope that rickety old tower stands for some time!
You've got a private retreat and photographic vantage point.
Life is good!

Life is good! I hope it stands for many more also. I have found some others in my area and I am going to travel to them, so I can see what the view is like from there heights too. Thanks for your comments!
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Erick,

These pictures are so dramatic. I like the starkness of the simple wood shapes against the clean sky and thin line of compressed sunset colors. I imagine there are so many fascinating pictures to find within the large frames. Worth exploring I think.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
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Erck,

The silhouette of the lookout as well as the sunset are good elements to work with. Havng the globe of the sun, itself, seems to be better in this picture. You might be able to work with different crops of the black parts.

Maybe, one can shoot upwards to this to get a wider view of this with surrounding landscape.

Asher
 

Erick Fromm

New member
Oh ya those photos are part of a slide show I am working on with a progression of the sun dropping. As soon as school starts up I will have the time to go back up and take some more photos. The weather is getting cooler and I can't wait to get out there. I went out in the woods last weekend and took a lot of shots of moving water. Right now that is my full time project.
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This is another shot form the tower. I have another shot of the moon closer up too.

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This is a higher shot with the sun blocked out by the post.

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And one more. I have so many photos from the tower, I have a lot to go threw over the winter. And they need to be post processed more I see some white spots I need too fix...
 

Jean Henderson

New member
Hi Erik,

Welcome!

I couldn't agree more with Cedric about the first image, but then I saw all the others. LOVELY and AWESOME series. As I view them individually, especially in the many so dramatic shots you've shared, I feel the centering that overtakes me whenever I am in the midst of Nature. Kudos!!

Jean
 

Erick Fromm

New member
Thanks for the nice comments guys! I only use a rotating polarizer filter. I take it off when I shoot the sunset photos. The skies around here do get very colorful on sunsets and sunrises. My next photo shoot from the tower I am hoping is in the morning. I want to catch a sunrise from up there.

Here are some photos I took with my Panasonic fz2

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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Thanks for the nice comments guys! I only use a rotating polarizer filter. I take it off when I shoot the sunset photos. The skies around here do get very colorful on sunsets and sunrises. My next photo shoot from the tower I am hoping is in the morning. I want to catch a sunrise from up there.


P1050037.jpg





At last!

Erick, I must admit I've been looking forward to actual views from the tower. You being in it, is rather like Velasquez slipping himself in his painting.

I do like this one and find this unusual composition refreshing. I'd have liked at least one strong vertical beam on the left, so if you dropped it away, could you show it?

Asher
 

Erick Fromm

New member
Do you mean the beam to the left? There is one there I could show more of it. I have not been to the tower again where the weather was so nice for taking photos. I am hoping to get out there again in weather like that. Here are a few other photos from up there.
P1050071.jpg

P1050785.jpg

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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Do you mean the beam to the left? There is one there I could show more of it. I have not been to the tower again where the weather was so nice for taking photos. I am hoping to get out there again in weather like that. Here are a few other photos from up there.​


P1050071.jpg

Yes, you have something very interesting to work with. Perhaps the black at the top is best removed as it then would open up the space for the mind to wander of and see the rest of the forrest in their mind!

You must continue on this idea of yours!

Asher​
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Erick,

Now this is a great view and spendid opportunity.


P1050785.jpg


DSC_0064.jpg

I can see that you might take a series exposure-bracketed shots and make a gentle HDR image with all the detail in the clouds as well as the blacks! What's the widest lens you have or would you stitch to get a panoramic view?

Asher
 

Erick Fromm

New member
I have a 18mm. I think that would be wide enough. The tamaracks will be changing colors soon. And the brush will be turning red. I can see the tower from my back porch. I got up the other morning and watched the sun rise over the tower. The tower is under the arrow.
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Hi Erick,

I wonder if you have looked at remapping this in one of the HDR programs? This might be worth a look. Nik has a new one coming out, Nik HDR Efex Pro, that seems very promising. Do you have this in RAW?

Next time, take the shot on a tripod and bracket. That way you can build up the amazing fall color just as you imagine it! There are lotos of other software choices. Read Cem and Bart's posts on the subject!

Asher
 

Erick Fromm

New member
You know the only time I have messed with hdr is in my camera. It has a setting that will allow you to take two or three photos and merge them together. I have had some ok results. I will have to look into it. Most of the time I use a tripod and as luck would have it I have several different exposures of that photo all taken with a tripod. I need to look into hdr. It does interest me. When I go out and take photos a lot of the time I try to get a lot of different exposures. I will be going up to the fire tower more frequently to get more photos before winter stops me from going up there. Usually I can only get up there into November. Now if I only had a snowmobile....​
 
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