Persistence is sometimes a requirement in photography. Many times the weather doesn't cooperate when you want a certain subject, and it requires you to revisit the location. That works out well if you live close by, but when you live thousands of miles away, not so much. Last June, I wanted to get a sunrise shot at Two Jack Lake with Mount Rundle reflected in it. I think we visited it every morning, hoping to get "the" shot. On my last morning in Banff, I hopped in my car to head up to Jasper National Park for a few days before flying home. On a whim, I took a detour to Two Jack Lake and this was what was waiting for me. Perseverance and determination does pay off.
Sailboat School - St Petersburg, Florida
When I was in St Petersburg last month, I went out before dawn and walked down the waterfront to shoot the very unusual looking Dali Museum. As I was shooting the museum, I heard a lot of noise off in the distance that was unusual for that time in the morning. As I finished up, I started back up the waterfront and the noise got louder and louder. It sounded like quite a crowd somewhere. As I turned a bend in the road, I discovered what all the racket was about. Turns out that there is a sailing school for youngsters in downtown St Pete. It was pretty amazing to see over a hundred sailboats on the water going in all different directions and crashing into one another. Sort of reminded me of a first year kids soccer game. The kids looked to be young teenagers and they were having a great time. The light was terrific, and I shot quite a few shots while enjoying their antics. Topped off a great morning sunrise.
Himalayan Blue Poppy - Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania
Every year I try to start shooting something a little outside of my comfort zone. Last year it was black and white photography, and this year I decided on macro work. What prettier subject to shoot than flowers. Now I am sure that I could play around and teach myself to do this properly, but I am a believer in learning from the best. When I saw that my friend, Denise Ippolito, was conducting a workshop, I signed up immediately. Denise is a master flower photographer (as well as birds and anything else she shoots), and I was hoping that some of her expertise and creativity would rub off on me.
The first thing I learned was that flower photography isn't as easy as it looks. I had to focus manually for the first time in a while. I also had to contend with movement in the flowers, as even the slightest breeze is magnified when shooting macros. It was also the first time shooting with my Fuji XT-1 with the 60mm (90mm equivalent) macro lens. I must say that the focus peeking on the XT-1 made manual focus a breeze, and I was quite pleased with the performance of the lens.
This photo of the Himalayan Blue Poppy was taken at Longwood Gardens. These flowers are not found much outside of the Himalayans, and the display at Longwood Gardens is a huge attraction for flower lovers. I am quite pleased with the results on this photo, as I had to push the ISO to 800 to compensate for the flower movement caused by people walking by the display.
Camden Harbor Overlook - Camden, Maine
When one thinks of Maine, thoughts of rugged coastlines, lighthouses, shipbuilding and lobsters come to mind. Spend a little more time there and you realize that there is much more than that to enjoy. I am speaking of the little towns that can be found all along the almost 3,500 miles of coastline. You read that right. Maine’s coastline is actually longer than California. Each town has its own personality. My favorite little town is Camden. Located about halfway between Portland and Acadia National Park, it has some great shops, restaurants and art galleries. Its small harbor is a place where you can hop on a boat and explore the local lighthouses or sail along the Maine coast. This photo shows the view from Camden Hills State Park, where you can overlook the town and its harbor.
Painted Horse - Granby, Connecticut
I have posted a number of images that were taken for my involvement with the Photofrontier’s WE35 Project. The project involves 35 photographers (“scientists”) who conduct research shooting at the 35mm field of view. Being limited in the project to one lens and focal length will help me in the future. One result that was unexpected was finding subjects around Connecticut that were previously unknown to me.
Like a lot of photographers, we sometimes think that the only subjects to shoot are far from home. In my case, the mountains of the western United States call out to me, and, since there are no real mountains close by, I don’t shoot as often as I should locally. February’s project forced me to explore my local area and find things to shoot in my everyday life. Knowing that I had a deadline forced me to explore places with my camera that I hadn’t before. For example, I probably passed this painted horse many times, but never noticed it before. As soon as I saw it, I had to grab its photo. That taught me a great lesson to explore more with photography in mind, even if there are no large mountains or landscapes near by.
Yellowstone Reflections - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Yellowstone is so big (3,472 square miles) that it is almost impossible to see the whole park in just a few days. Unfortunately, that was all of the time that I had to spend there. My plan of attack was to stay at different hotels in the park so I wasn’t in the car driving too much. After spending my first two nights at Yellowstone Lake Lodge on the east side of the park, I headed to my second destination, Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, in the northwest corner. Heading out before dawn, I planned to stop at the Old Faithful Geyser to explore the area. I knew that a storm was heading toward the area, so I was hoping to get to Old Faithful before the rain. Just about halfway, I spotted this scene off to my right, and I knew that I had to stop to catch the great light and reflection. I don’t know the name of this pond, but I am glad I stopped.
Is That Flipper? - Pine Island Sound, Sanibel, Florida
Our weeklong stay in Sanibel last month was a well-deserved and relaxing escape from the New England winter. One of the coolest things that we did was to take a boat trip on the Sanibel Thriller. We probably would have missed this adventure if it were not for TripAdvisor, who had it as the number one attraction on Sanibel Island. The boat itself is a fifty-five foot super-catamaran, and two 440 horsepower engines power it. If memory serves me right, it reaches a speed of 40 miles per hour, which allows the boat to fully circle Sanibel and Captiva Islands. The most exciting part of the trip is when the captain spots dolphins, slows down, and maneuvers the boat in a way that has lots of them following alongside the boat. It was quite difficult photographing these beautiful mammals, as you don’t know when and where they would surface. It happens so quickly that I started to manually focus on a spot where I thought they would jump out of the water, and pray that, when they did, they would be in focus. As you can see from this shot, I got this guy near the top of his jump.
Last Dollar Road Vista - Telluride, Colorado
It always amazes me how the same subjects can look so different from changing one’s viewpoint. After spending a few days shooting around Wilson Peak from down on the mesa, we headed up Last Dollar Trail to get a view of the peak and the surrounding area. It was quite cold and windy, but the view was amazing. The early morning sun lit up this beautiful vista, creating terrific light and shadow play on all of the undulations of the geology of the area. While most of the foliage of the mesa was not near peak, the road up to our viewing spot was lined with some already peak aspen color.
Lightkeeper's Home - Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, Bristol, Maine
We are back to my favorite lighthouse on the Maine Coast on the blog today. The Pemaquid Point Lighthouse is one of those lighthouses that give you a lot of different looks, depending on what angle that you shoot it from. From the rocks, you can get some amazing shots depending on which side of the lighthouse you are. From above, you get all kind of different angles of the light and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. For this image, the lighthouse takes a backseat, and I wanted to make the lightkeeper's home the main subject. I haven't seen many shots taken from this angle and I was trying to convey more than just the light. Hopefully, I succeeded.
Abandoned - Guilford, Connecticut
I spend a lot of time looking at other photographer's work for inspiration and to discover new locations. Sometimes you see a photo that jogs your memory and you say to yourself, I shot there a long time ago. This is where Lightroom comes in handy. Within minutes, I had this photo on my screen and found that I shot it in 2008. As the story goes, this was a summer cottage that once burned down, was rebuilt, and then moved to higher ground. The owners ultimately donated it, along with the land, to the town of Guilford. I think it is still there, but I don't know what shape it is in. Maybe I will hop in the car and drive the 75 minutes one day to check it out.
The Road to the Tetons - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
I had just finished up my first Grand Teton tour with Jeff Clow (if you are looking for a great tour there, check his tour out - he literally wrote the book on photographing the Tetons) and was headed to Yellowstone National Park for a few days on my own. I got up before dawn and headed north via Teton Park Road. As most serious photographers do, I was constantly looking around for compositions and noticed this scene in my rear view mirror. Before Jeff's tour I might not have noticed this scene, but he is a master of road shots and I was extra aware of them. Time to find somewhere to pull over. Fortunately, the Potholes Turnout was just ahead and I was able to snag this shot.
Eyeball to Eyeball - Sanibel, Florida
For those of you who have shot with me or have followed me for a while, you rarely see me shooting wildlife, especially birds. Don't get me wrong, if it is there, I will take a couple of shots. Since I don't carry those long heavy lenses that you need to get a proper bird shot, it has been hit or miss (mostly miss) for me. Last month, while I was in Sanibel, we headed out to the fishing pier. As I walked down the pier, I noticed this snowy egret simply staring at me, eyeball to eyeball. I figured that I would give it a try, but I wasn't close enough and moved closer. The bird didn't budge at all. Pressing my luck, I inched closer and got this shot. Even after I was done shooting, it stayed there just looking at me. I decided that he would win the stare down and walked away. Not too bad for a landscape photographer.
Morning Glow - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
This scene has been attracting visitors and photographers to the Grand Tetons forever. The Tetons are beautiful from almost any view, but Oxbow Bend is my favorite. The oxbow shape is formed by the Snake River as it meanders from Jackson Lake past Rockchuck Peak, Mount Woodring and Mount Moran. You can find people there all day and it is especially crowded at sunrise with photographers. I have shot this scene many times and you might wonder why. The quick answer is that you never know what you might see with respect to light and clouds. For example, I almost didn't get out of bed to shoot here, as it was raining when the alarm went off. But I was only 5 minutes away and thought that maybe I would be lucky. By the time I set up, the rain had stopped and I had great clouds. I didn't think that I would see any sunrise light, but I was thankfully wrong, as you can see.
Light at the End of the Pier - Venice, Florida
A #WE35 Photo shot as part of the Photo Frontier's 2015 exploration of the 35mm field of view.
The first morning of our trip to Florida to escape the winter found me in Venice, Florida. Wasn't planned that way, but the first of many major snow storms was scheduled to hit on the day we were flying from Connecticut. A three-hour long wait time on the phone (seems like everyone in the northeast was doing the same thing as me) proved to be worth it, as I was able to get out of town a day early. Where to stay was the only thing up in the air. I picked Venice, as a friend of mine had told me it was a nice place. Just before I headed out of town, I did an image search and saw that there was a fishing pier that might be worth a pre-dawn visit.
Anxious to start a field report for the WE35, I was equipped with my Fuji 23mm (35mm equivalent) and my XT-1. After setting up and taking a few test shots, I realized that I had to zoom with my feet instead of with a zoom lens. I wasn't sure if the light would even appear under the pier, but I figured it was worth a try. A little patience paid off as the light began to shine through the top of the pier. I decided to shoot long exposures, as I didn't want the waves distracting from the light at the end of the pier.
The Balcony - Newport, Rhode Island
This is an image that I shot quite a few years ago when I visited Newport. It is the balcony of the Breakers, which is the biggest of the mansions along Cliff Walk. The mansion boasts 125,000 square feet of space ("only" 62,500 square feet of living area), and was used by the Vanderbilt family as a summer cottage. Unfortunately, photography of any kind is prohibited and is strictly enforced (I dared to shoot a photo looking out a window and was told politely to stop (I did). The only place where photography is allowed is outside on this balcony.
This has always been one of my favorites, but I thought it needed a facelift as my editing and software programs have improved quite a bit since I first edited it. So here is the "new and improved" (at least I hope) version.
Iconic Barn - Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Is this the most photographed barn in the world? Do a search on the internet and you will see that many believe it is. I suspect that this barn has been shot from every angle possible and that there are not any new compositions left. If that is what I believe, why shoot it? The answer is simple. It is a gorgeous scene when the sunrise light hits the front of the barn for about five minutes. To me that glow is worth shooting. There is another reason to shoot it and that has to do with weather, clouds and light. No one day is identical to another. When you get up before dawn, you almost never know what conditions you will experience once on location (I wish I could get paid for being wrong as many times as weather forecasters are). Great clouds? Low hanging fog? Will the sunrise reach the barn? Who knows for sure, but you will find me shooting this iconic barn later this year.
Ride on the Open Air Elevated - Lake Buena Vista, Florida
I am sure some of you might recognize where I shot this subject. No, it is not a nighttime exposure from a dark street. It is, in fact, taken from a moving movie ride in Disney World's Hollywood Studios. The folks at Disney pay great attention to details that really make you feel that you are somewhere else. This is the case almost anywhere you go in the parks, and is even more so in the various different countries in Epcot. Maybe that is one of the reasons that travelers flock to Disney year round. In any case, they have designed terrific subjects for photographers to shoot.
Fall in the Rockies - Aspen, Colorado
There are iconic places that are just magnets for photographers. Some of them are year round challenges such as Mesa Arch in Arches National Park, where maybe 15 people can fit to get "the" shot. Maroon Bells, pictured here, is another, especially during foliage season. The number of people that can shoot there at one time is much greater than Mesa Arch, but to secure a spot, you have to get there really early. For this shot, we left the hotel at 3:30am, and that got us to Maroon Bells about two hours before sunrise. Even with this early start, there were still plenty of people there already set up. The good news was that we still had some really good spots to shoot from. As the time passed, the lakeshore was lined up with photographers, probably numbering in excess of 200. It is quite the scene. Tripod legs are positioned in such a way that if you try to move, you might knock over someone else's camera into the water.
I normally work the scene, shooting from different locations by scurrying from place to place to get different angles. After all, the great light in most cases only last about 10-15 minutes. That wasn't going to happen on this shoot. Instead, I played around with different focal lengths, aperture settings, camera heights and orientation. Even shooting with a wide-angle lens was challenging, as all of the photographers on either side of me would be in the photo. On this portrait orientation, I wanted to get the rock in the foreground to anchor the scene. Do I wish that I was the only one there along with my friends? Sure, but I am sure that everyone else there was thinking the same thing. The subject, light and fall foliage was still worth the experience.
Desert Beauty - Moab, Utah
Just north of Moab, there is a turnoff that takes you along the Colorado River for 44 miles. The road is known as River Road, Route 128, or the Colorado River Scenic Byway. Regardless of its name, the scenery along it is simply outstanding. Passing such iconic places such as Fisher Towers, Castle Valley and Professor Valley, it is truly the American Southwest. There are wonderful ranches also along the way as well as a few great places to stay. Sunrises and sunsets give very unique looks to the landscapes. Being a north to south route, one side has spectacular light in the mornings with an equal amount of light bathing the other side in the evenings.
This particular panorama was taken one morning on a cloudless day. My shooting companion, Michael Louthan, and I left the group and began to hike up the trail you see to the left. As we got a bit higher, I knew it was time to shoot a panorama to show the ruggedness and colors of the landscape.
Glass Planets - St. Petersburg, FL
On my recent three-week trip to Florida, one of the stops we made was in St Petersburg. I had never been there and I really enjoyed the city. One of the days, we had rain (can't complain too much given the terrible winter we were missing), so we decided to visit the local art museum that was featuring Chihuly glass. I had never heard of Chihuly or seen his work, but my friend who taught the arts in high school knew his work. I wasn't sure what to expect, but was blown away by the shapes and colors of the glass. Better yet, photographs were permitted of the art.
I shot quite a few of these works of art and was quite pleased with the results. This one was my favorite. It features wonderfully colored glass globes that are to represent planets. I am not sure how the boat plays into the artist's mind, but I thought it was cool. In any case, I highly recommend this exhibit, especially on a rainy day.