Below are photos from last week’s hike on the Dixie Mine, Sonoran, Promenade, Western Loop trails. (We also hiked a short section of the Andrews-Kinsey trail.) Linda and I hiked a little over 10 miles. The others turned back while still on the Sonoran Trail, hiking around seven miles total.
Linda suggested several of these shots. We both thought that the colors of the spurge (reddish ground cover) and brittlebush were interesting. (Note to Linda: When doing color correction on these photos, checking the values in Lab color space,I found that brittlebush leaves have a < 0 (green) and b > 0 (yellow) where b is roughly –a. This is why brittlebush looks “bluer” than a lot of other desert foliage, most of which have a b that’s significantly greater than that recommended for healthy foliage elsewhere. Note to others: Linda listened politely and patiently while I explained Lab color space.)
I think this is desert misletoe. Both Linda and I thought it was an unusual color, but it could be stressed either due to cold or perhaps death of the host plant.
Sue says:
Interesting color explanations. I notice in these shots the brittlebush and some of the other plants/grasses seemed more exaggerated than in reality. I will take note. Thank you for the explanations. Always love seeing/hearing the great hikes!!!
January 29, 2015 — 5:12 pm
Kevin says:
There may be more saturation than you perceive in reality. In Lab space this is achieved by pushing the a and b further away from 0. (When a=0, b=0, the color is white, black, or some shade of grey. Exactly what it is will depend on the L (lightness) value.)
If the hue of grasses (or anything) in my photos appears wrong to you, I’d like to know about it.
January 29, 2015 — 6:02 pm
Linda says:
Because of our conversation (my tutorial…lol) about the process used to show the various shades of green, I have to say I feel the greens in these are right on…..and the brittlebush, to me, looks exactly how it looked last Friday. Because we had some overcast, I think, it was easier to see these variations while out there too.
I know my question is…..how fast were you able to “doctor” these?
Thanks for taking them and working on them……really enjoy seeing them and sharing them with others. Many thanks
January 29, 2015 — 6:55 pm
Wiley says:
Thanks for still remembering me.
February 3, 2015 — 8:54 am
jon leverenz says:
Great.
February 4, 2015 — 9:05 pm