Randy Bell  

Tranquil pathway by Randy Bell

November 2025 - Tranquil pathway

November 2025 - Randy Bell

Original

About the Image(s)


My wife and I took a trip to Ashland, Oregon, a couple of weeks ago for a friend's wedding. Before the wedding, we were able to take a walk in the local park, Lithia Park. This park dates back to 1852 and was officially dedicated in 1916. This was my second time here and it is a beautiful, well maintained park. Walking along the trail before the sun fully lit the area in the morning, I came across this scene. I liked the way the light was coming off the trees and shrubs and reflecting in the stream by the trail.

It was a high contrast scene with the bright sun just breaking over a nearby mountain hitting the trees and the shaded area of the stream. Using darktable for my editing, I tried to balance the highlights and shadows. I am still very much learning this software and welcome any comments or suggestions on the image. This software is similar to Lightroom in that it is a RAW developer, but has a very different user interface and many of the tools have different names and work in different ways.

I used my Nikon camera with a 50mm lens at f/7.1, 1/80s and ISO 3200.

13 comments posted

Sylvia Williams   Sylvia Williams
Randy,
This shot is very tranquil! I'd love to walk it.
I wish I had suggestions for you, but I think that it is very good as is.   Posted: 11/11/2025 15:48:21
Randy Bell   Randy Bell
Thank you for your comments, Sylvia.   Posted: 11/15/2025 00:19:48
Sabine Nehls   Sabine Nehls
Randy, that's a very beautiful, atmospheric picture.
I really like the path winding along the stream and into the light.

Unfortunately, I can't help you with Darktable.

In my opinion, your picture doesn't need much improvement.

I increased the brightness a bit in Photoshop and worked with the yellow and green color channels. That makes your picture a little brighter.   Posted: 11/14/2025 17:50:44
Sabine Nehls   Sabine Nehls
  Posted: 11/14/2025 17:51:13
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Randy Bell   Randy Bell
Thank you, Sabine. I appreciate your feedback and suggested edits. I don't expect anyone to be able to help with darktable, just edits in general. Perhaps, I am too hard om myself with my edits sometimes.   Posted: 11/15/2025 00:27:13
Yvonne Cary Carter   Yvonne Cary Carter
Randy, You captured tranquility. The stones in the pond, moss and green reflections in the water are very soothing. I like your edit. My only suggestion would be to lighten the path with the light filtering in to the pond. I tried to lighten the path with Photoshops dodge tool.

From checking Lithia Park out on line it offers various landscapes from canyons to a Japanese Garden. You're fortunate to live in such a beautiful area. Love this serene image.   Posted: 11/15/2025 18:20:51
Yvonne Cary Carter   Yvonne Cary Carter
  Posted: 11/15/2025 18:21:11
Yvonne Cary Carter   Yvonne Cary Carter
  Posted: 11/15/2025 18:25:51
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Randy Bell   Randy Bell
Thank you, Yvonne. I think your idea to brighten the trail is a good idea. It helps it stand out a bit more.

Lithia Park does offer a lot of things, including a nice Japanese garden. Unfortunately, I don't live all that close to it. It is a drive of several hours to get there and I am usually passing through the area on other trips. It was nice to be able to spend some time there this trip.   Posted: 11/18/2025 21:52:57
Douglas Gerdts   Douglas Gerdts
Hi Randy!

Just for fun I put a square crop on your photo and removed the heavier branches -- not sure it's an improvement as your original didn't need any!   Posted: 11/17/2025 14:02:04
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Randy Bell   Randy Bell
Thank you, Douglas. I see what you mean about the larger branches in the photo. Not sure what I can do, but I will give it some thought. Thanks.   Posted: 11/18/2025 21:58:24
Jim Overfield   Jim Overfield
Randy, I like this serene nature photo. There is so much to see in this image, I think you did well with your composition. The path alongside the stream adds context to the image while the warm early light leads me to the colorful light reflections among the rocks in the stream. I particularly like the color of the stream caused by the surrounding green vegetation. The edit by Sabine does bring a little more light into the photo, otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.   Posted: 11/17/2025 14:13:17
Randy Bell   Randy Bell
Thanks, Jim. I think I have gotten some good feedback on this photo from the group and I will go back to it to make some of the suggested adjustments. I appreciate the feedback.   Posted: 11/18/2025 22:01:22

 

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