A Place Of Rest – Finding beauty at a Rest Stop

Along Interstate 5 from the border of Canada in the North to the border of Mexico in the South there 39 Rest Stops where both man and pet exit their vehicles for a quick stretch and to donate the left overs from fast food diets or “stop and rob” (convenience store) purchases. Most are of these locations are simply functional but some are truly beautiful.

Baldock Safety Rest Area located 14 miles South of Portland Oregon is a peaceful location with well maintained grass and evergreen trees growing throughout. Even in the heat of the day this location is shaded and inviting.

A Place of Rest v. 1

While riding home from my marathon motorcycle journey to Southern California I pulled in to find I was drawn to how the mid-morning light was filtering through the trees illuminating some but not all of the tree trunks and casting cool shadows on the verdant grass. Of course I had to pull out my camera. I’ve post processed my favorite image from the set I took into two distinct versions. One is warm and diffused giving a feeling of age and nostalgia while the other is more vibrant and truer to what I saw with my eye and felt in my spirit.

A Place of Rest v. 2

The image was shot in Manual Mode with a Canon 40D using an EF 28-105mm L series IS lens at f/22 for 1/2 sec and an ISO of 100. I intentionally raised the camera from trunk bottom upward while the shutter was open to blur the image into a more surreal artistic image of what I visualized instead of a “true” capture of what I saw.

Use the Poll below to let me know which one of these you like better and of course, comments are always encouraged because I like reading what you post and Google likes content, content, content!

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