Six Nightlife Images of the Pacific Rim Rainforest, #1

Title

Six Nightlife Images of the Pacific Rim Rainforest, #1


Description

This is a collection of original photographs of the Pacific Rim temperate rainforest, my home. These pictures were taken in Canada's Pacific Rim National Park Long Beach Unit and the surrounding area. Take yourself - your Sims - for a walk on the wild side!

Please note that none of these images has been modified in colour, but the conversion process does require an adjustment in brightness, and in a few cases, in contrast. All were taken with either the DX Nikkor 18-70 mm f/3.5-4.5 lens or the AF Nikkor 80-200 mm f/4.5-5.6 on a Nikon D70 digital body.

The complete collection consists of two installments of six photos each, all in Nightlife "Two Dogs and an Olive" format. These pictures include my custom framing, available for free use at the Six Huge Pre-Raphaelite Prints thread. "Two Dogs and an Olive" costs §2900, has an Environment value of 10, and covers four tiles in width.

The first image, "Abundance", was taken in late February, 2005. Yes, no snow - and the forest is still very much alive. We typically see only one or two inches of snow in a year; our temperature is so moderated by the open Pacific ocean so that we have one of the most limited thermal ranges in Canada. And it is poorly advertised, but the result is that we often have Canada's highest daily temperature in the winter. Our area also have one of the highest annual rainfalls in the world, but with most of the rain occurring in winter and early spring. These two factors, high rainfall and moderate temperature range, produce a luxuriant temperate rainforest.


Ah yes, the second picture, "Domestic Deer". You might think you were deep in the wilderness, miles off the pavement. In fact this photo was taken in our front yard, right in "downtown" Ucluelet. But Ucluelet itself is only a village of 1800 people, located 100 km from the nearest town. Recent development in our village has opened up a lot of land, resulting in the abundant growth of the low lying bushes and herbs that the deer prefer. They also like flowers and garden vegetables - the sweeter the better - so they have become somewhat of a tolerated pest. In this species both sexes wear antlers, although it is the males that carry a larger rack.


On the left, the "Fern Forest" was pictured in late October, towards the end of their annual life cycle. Ferns have a primal, primitive, pure and gentle beauty.

I strongly associate the "Exotica" on the right with the wetter parts of the temperate rainforest. These are the wonderfully textured leaves of a plant popularly called the "skunk cabbage". They do have a strong wild odour, but it is not necessarily unpleasant.


Much like its tropical counterpart, the temperate rainforest can appear encumbered by its proliferation of life, and these "Forest Fences" form an impassible jungle. But if your goal is not to go anywhere in particular, they can become a fascinating destination in themselves.

At your right, the "Forest Floor" echoes this abundance. The long fallen tree here becomes a "nurse log" from which new trees will grow.

These images are all Copyright from 2004 to 2007, by David J. Wilson (Sophie-David). You may use the packages containing these images, unmodified, within your game and they may also be used as incidental images within published Sims 2 screen shots. These files may also be uploaded as custom content within lots distributed at Mod the Sims 2, InSIMenator, and Parsimonious, provided that credit is given and that I am advised by PM. You may be granted permission to include these images in uploaded lots at other free sites, but this license is subject to my prior approval and completely at my discretion. Apart from these specific waivers, these images may not be posted or redistributed in any other way. All other rights are reserved, and please note that image extraction, modification, adaptation or reformatting are strictly forbidden.

Part Two of this collection is located here. My earlier collection of digital nature photographs is located here.


Additional Credits:

SimPE 6.0, absolutely essential!
Microsoft Photo Editor, for conversion to Sims 2 format
BaseGameStarter Pro, so handy for speeding up the development process
For the screen captures, some use was made of the ceiling tiles by jgwhiteus and Inge Jones, or one of the several recolours of these
Attribute Change 5.30, which is very useful for adjusting a file's date and timestamp, used to put the recolours together in consecutive order, with the most recent recolour being the one furthest to the left.