And of course there is the Jimmy Buffett/Parrothead corollary – “If God hands you limes, make Margaritas!”

This story below is an example of making lemonade from lemons… or, if you prefer, Margaritas from limes.

Late Saturday night we made the decision to head [...]]]> There’s a saying that goes something like “If God hands you lemons, make lemonade.”

And of course there is the Jimmy Buffett/Parrothead corollary – “If God hands you limes, make Margaritas!”

This story below is an example of making lemonade from lemons… or, if you prefer, Margaritas from limes.

Late Saturday night we made the decision to head to Sand Island (in Bethlehem, PA) early Sunday morning in order to photograph sunrise coming up behind the industrial ruins of Bethlehem Steel. I though it would make a splendid composition and a wonderful image. We got to Sand Island before 0500, about 45 minutes before sunrise. We went to the spot where I want to shoot from and much to my delight, I found the water level in the Lehigh River low enough that I could easily make my way out into the river for the perspective that I wanted. Unfortunately that was the last thing to go right. I no sooner got set up when a train (the plant is dead, well except for the casino built on the brownfields, but the train tracks are still active) headed right into the composition and came to a dead stop. As I waited and hoped that the train would move on I came to the realization that I had misjudged where the sun would rise (bad planning on my part). Oh I was pointed in the right direction but this time of year the sun rises more northeast than I was pointing. On top of that, what little color there was in the sky was totally diffused in haze that was not going to burn off soon. My vision of a sunrise over the stacks went down the drain fast.

As I stood there thinking about the family members (my father, both grandfathers, four uncles) who toiled for Bethlehem Steel, I decided I might as well make a few images before closing up shop and heading home. So I made two five-image HDR series of images –  a total of 10 images. When I got home, I processed the images in Photomatix Pro (for HDR) before going into Nik and processing the image in Dfine (noise reduction) and Viveza 2 (to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and structure) before moving into Color Efex Pro and using the Graduated Neutral Density filter there in an effort to pull some color out of the sky. It wasn’t working. here’s what the image looked like when I was about to give up.

… then the idea of black and white hit me. I went back into Nik and used Silver Efex Pro to convert the image to B&W and then used the Vignette Blur filter in Color Efex Pro to create the vignetting effect. Finally, I sharpened the image using Nik Sharpener Pro. (Have I said how much I love the Nik Complete suite .)

Here’s the finished product. Much more dramatic. And, I think, a really nice keeper image out of what looked to be a wasted morning. What do you think?

Truth be told, it’s not that I don’t ever have people in my images but it is extremely rare. And I will go to great lengths to work around people and keep my images people-free. Sometimes my work has [...]]]> Why aren’t there any people in my images? That is a question that I was recently asked.

Truth be told, it’s not that I don’t ever have people in my images but it is extremely rare. And I will go to great lengths to work around people and keep my images people-free. Sometimes my work has been criticized for it. Some want to see a person walking along that beach or a boat out on that lake… something to provide a visual anchor point for the image. But one person’s anchor point is another’s distraction and I find such elements to be a visual distraction. And a boat anchor around my neck. So I simply avoid them. After all, whose vision is it anyway? It’s my vision and people seldom have a place in it.

Freeman Patterson is photographer, writer, teacher who I have never met but admire greatly. He said “The camera always points both ways. In expressing your subject, you also express yourself.” I guess I really believe that to be true. In my work, I strive to capture the essence, the spirit of my subject be that a sunrise, a flower, a landscape or whatever. But at the same time, I feel I am sharing a part of me with you the viewer. Through my work, you can learn about me – who I am, what I like, what I am like, what really makes me tick…

I tend to be a loner. I know many people but really have few friends. (Sometimes while pondering my own mortality I wonder, will anyone show up at my funeral… will the many people I know care enough to show up or just those few friends?) I tend to shy away from group activities. I seldom go on a group shoot with my club preferring instead to go out by myself or with just my wife. I love sunrises because it is quiet, peaceful and I can be alone – just me and my subject. No other people around. No boats out on the water. It’s as if I exist in my own world. It’s as if I stepped into this scene and I am the first person to do so. It is a wonderful feeling. And it represents who I am. What I think. What I feel about the world around me.

And when there are people around, I feel like they are intruding upon the world I am trying to capture… my world. So I do the only thing I can. I eliminate them. Sometimes it’s not easy. Try getting a wide angle image inside the Conservatory at Longwood Gardens with no people in it. But I’ve done it because seldom are people part of my creative vision.

And when people are in my images, they are there because they communicate the same sense of solitude that I seek out in my work. One need look no further than an image I entitled “Fishing the Fog”.

I write this for the sole reason of giving you, the viewer of my art, a glimpse into what makes Ed Vatza tick… and why there are no people in my images… like in these two from Lake Nockamixon (Nockamixon State Park, Bucks County, PA).

“Marina 5:20 am”

“Red Sails in the Sunrise”

This post is [...]]]> Those of you who have followed my blog for the past year or longer know that Barb and I will often head to Jacobsburg State Park (PA) since it is close (a 20 minute drive) and a great place for Barb to bird and me to photograph (particularly wildflowers this time of year).

This post is a testament to keeping your eyes and mind open and always looking for other opportunities along the way. And also a reminder to do your research whether you are going to be in your own backyard or a thousand miles away.

A couple of weeks back (on Father’s Day, if memory serves), Barb and I headed to Jacobsburg so she could look for the Yellow-breasted Chat and I could photograph some wildflowers. She came up empty but I did come away with several rather nice wildflower portraits that I really like. But as Barb looked and listened for the Chat, I started to do some nosing around an area of Jacobsburg that we don’t often to visit unless we are just hiking through. The more I looked, the more I liked what I was seeing – meadow up close, rolling hills, farmland, what passes for mountains in this area off on the horizon. It had the makings of a very nice bucolic landscape. What would really set it off though would be a sunrise or sunset.

A quick check of the map showed, much to my delight, that we were looking pretty much east. The sun should rise over the farmland.

So this past weekend we headed to Jacobsburg in search of a sunrise over the rolling hills and meadows. As we left the car at about 0440 you could see the beginnings of sunrise off to our left. As we walked straight into the meadow to the main trail, we turned… a sharp right. The sunrise was now at our back. As we twisted and turned through the meadow and woods, we eventually got turned around in the right direction and when we arrived at the spot we had scoped out before, the sunrise was beginning to unfold… right in front of us.

And a beautiful sunrise, it turned out to be!

5:17 am

5:21 am

5:23 am

5:40 am

Hope you enjoyed the sunrise!

As time [...]]]> My familiarity with the Sandy Hook, NJ portion of Gateway National Recreational Area goes back probably a decade. It started with an interest in lighthouses that my wife and I share and a visit to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. Originally built in 1764, Sandy Hook is the oldest lighthouse still in existence in America.

As time passed and Barb became more interested in birding and I in bird photography, we would visit Sandy Hook regularly usually between the months of October and April for shorebirds, migratory birds and wintering ducks. We haunt the Jersey shore after the sun worshippers leave and before they return.

The more I visited Sandy Hook and the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that Sandy Hook would be a great location for one of my “Creativity, Composition and the Camera” photography workshops. But before I made a definitive decision to hold a workshop there, I needed to scout it out for more and different shooting opportunities. That was the purpose of yesterday’s visit to Sandy Hook. Yep no time like the Fourth of July weekend for a trip to the Jersey shore – Barb, me and about a million other folks! Still we had a very productive time on this narrow spit of land.

One of the subjects I want to focus a session on is lighthouses. Notice I said plural – lighthouses. There are two that I definitely want to include, Sandy Hook, of course, and Twin Lights (aka Navesink) in Highlands just outside Sandy Hook. Another session will be devoted to photographing the ruins of Fort Hancock, a decommissioned Army base with some very interesting old mortar batteries and such. And then, of course, there is the beach for sunrise and the back bay for sunset. And yes, even birds and flowers. All in all an excellent location for a workshop with more than enough to keep us busy for three days.

If you think you may be interested in this workshop, drop me a note at ed@itsmynaturephotography.com so I can be sure to keep you up-to-date as plans firm up. I am planning the workshop for sometime in the April/May 2011 timeframe. Exact dates, cost, lodging arrangements, workshop features, etc. will be posted when available but probably not before mid-October of this year. I am just asking for an indication of interest. Neither you nor I are locking in to anything at this time.

As you think, here are a few images from yesterday. And yes, I was working some of the time with my Lensbaby Composer with the fisheye optic. Most of the images are multi-image HDR composites in order to cover the dynamic range from the deep shadows to the blazing summertime sky.

Sandy Hook Lighthouse (as seen from the Mortar Battery; HDR)

Sandy Hook Lighthouse (Fisheye HDR)

Mortar Battery (Fisheye HDR)

Mortar Battery (with 21st Century Hieroglyphics; HDR)

Battery Potter

Hope you enjoyed the images and hope you will think about joining me on this Spring 2011 workshop at Sandy Hook, NJ.