In the meantime, [...]]]> I was busy most of the weekend doing mounting, matting and framing for my upcoming exhibit which begins tomorrow (June 15) at Sagra Bistro (640 Main Street, Hellertown, PA). Doing it all by yourself is time-consuming but, at the same time, rewarding. I’ll feel even better when I have everything up tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, I did get out a little bit on Sunday morning. Barb and I went to Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, PA and found at least a dozen Great Blue Herons hanging around Lake Galena. One in particular was very cooperative and I was able to make several worthy images of him (her?). I also was able to “shoot” several others but none were as photogenic as this one.

“Preening”

“The Regal Look”

Hope you enjoy the images!

I love sunrises. Always have. I am an early riser. Always been. A normal weekday morning for me starts around 0445 even though I don’t have to be at work until 0800. When the weekend rolls around,  I am still up around the same time. Sunrises should be no problem. But for some reason I [...]]]>

I love sunrises. Always have. I am an early riser. Always been. A normal weekday morning for me starts around 0445 even though I don’t have to be at work until 0800. When the weekend rolls around,  I am still up around the same time. Sunrises should be no problem. But for some reason I tend to fritter away the early mornings more often than I should and, as a result, I miss the sunrises more often than I should. It probably doesn’t help that my favorite places for sunrises tend to be 45 minutes to two hours away. (Make a note: Find places closer to home to shoot sunrises!)

Saturday morning we headed to the New Jersey shore – one of my favorite places to photograph sunrises. We were up early enough (actually around 0330), but somehow didn’t get it in gear fast enough to make it in time for sunrise. We still had a great day. I got some nice shorebird images. But alas no sunrise… and it would have been spectacular.

Fast forward to Sunday morning. Again, we were up early. But this time the drive was only 40 minutes to Peace Valley Park and Lake Galena. We still didn’t get there as early as I would have liked but we did get there for Civil Twilight (Dawn) and I was able to make a whole series of images between Civil Twilight and Sunrise. Actually I made a dozen 5-image sequences for HDR. Each series was shot at f/16 with ISO 100 and 0 EV bracketed with shots at -2 EV, -1 EV, +1 EV and +2 EV.

It was fascinating to watch the color dissipate the closer we got to actual sunrise. The higher the sun got, even though it was still below the horizon, the more concentrated the area of color became. Anyway, here are two examples. The first (above) was obviously pre-sunrise and the second (below) just has the sun began to peak over the horizon. You can see the differences in the sky. Hope you enjoy them!

(1/2 sec @ f/22; ISO 100; 0 EV; FL 43mm)

Image was made yesterday morning at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park (Bucks County, PA) in the minutes before sunrise. The lake obviously was frozen.

Used my Canon 50D; 24-70 2.8L w/ a 3-stop graduated neutral density filter; all tripod mounted.

When I got home and looked at [...]]]>

(1/2 sec @ f/22; ISO 100; 0 EV; FL 43mm)

Image was made yesterday morning at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park (Bucks County, PA) in the minutes before sunrise. The lake obviously was frozen.

Used my Canon 50D; 24-70 2.8L w/ a 3-stop graduated neutral density filter; all tripod mounted.

When I got home and looked at the images on the big screen, I felt they were cold, desolate, lonely and boring. I wanted cold, desolate, lonely and less boring. So I went to work. I started with cropping out some of the excess ice in the foreground in order to provide a better balance. Then I ran the image through Nik Dfine to remove any noise that may have presented itself. Moving on to Viveza 2.0, I opened up the blacks in the trees on the left and right and reduced brightness while adding saturation to the ice and sky accentuating the blues and reds. I also reduced structure a bit in order to start smoothing the ice blemishes. After contenting myself that I did what I wanted to do in Viveza, I moved on to Color Efex Pro. I said that I had used a 3-stop GND while shooting but felt it could use a bit more so I used the Graduated ND filter in Nik and finished it off by softening and smoothing the image using a filter designed, I think, for portraits called Glamour Glow. Finally I used Sharpener Pro to, believe it or not, reduce the structure and focus a bit more in order to reduce the impact of the ice blemishes even more – much like a portrait photographer would do to remove skin blemishes.

“Fire and Ice” is the result. Remember… cold, desolate, lonely. Let me know what you think!

Objective: Capture the patterns of bright light and deep shade in a stand of tall pines.

Technique: Vertical pan/motion blur.

Location: Peace Valley Park, Bucks County, Pa.

Objective: Capture the patterns of bright light and deep shade in a stand of tall pines.

Technique: Vertical pan/motion blur.

Location: Peace Valley Park, Bucks County, Pa.

Time: Yesterday around 9:00am.

Conditions: Sunny but I was in a dense stand of tall pines. Sun was leaking in through the trees behind me creating a interesting blend of bright light and deep shade.

Camera: Canon 50D

Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS; Focal Length 80mm

Settings: 0.6 sec @ f/16; ISO 160; -1/3 EV; AWB

Post-Processing: Basic adjustments in Lightroom (upped exposure and blacks, clarity and vibrance, saturation) and Photoshop CS4 (Very minor exposure correction in Topaz, Levels and Curves to boost contrast)

Addendum

The image above was cropped not only from the top and bottom to create the pano view but also from the right eliminate some very bright light creating a waterfall-type of look due to the vertical pan. That light didn’t really bother me but it bothered everyone else who I showed the image to. So I cropped it out. Below is another image with the bright waterfall-type light left in.

(1/100 sec @ f/11; ISO 200; +1 2/3 EV; Custom WB)

This image was made this morning after the fog cleared on Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park, Pa. We were there for the birds but I brought my IR-converted camera along should just this type of opportunity present itself. I don’t think the image needs a [...]]]>

(1/100 sec @ f/11; ISO 200; +1 2/3 EV; Custom WB)

This image was made this morning after the fog cleared on Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park, Pa. We were there for the birds but I brought my IR-converted camera along should just this type of opportunity present itself. I don’t think the image needs a lot of explanation but I will say that I like the variety of reflections on the water. The bright lit trees to the right, the shaded area to the left and the interesting clouds in the sky. I also liked the fact that the little snags pull my eye into the image.

Once you take an IR image into post-processing, you have some choices to make. I could have desaturated what little color was left in the image (since the filters used are technically near-infrared, they do let a little red light through) and gone black and white. Or I could do what I did here and do a red/blue channel swap which results in turning what little red light remains in the sky (the source of IR) and reflected off the water into a more natural looking blue. I finished it up by adding some more saturation to the blues and this is what I came up with.

Image made with a Canon Rebel XT converted to IR by LifePixel; Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens; handheld.

My wife and I were up bright and early this morning so we could arrive at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park (PA) in time for sunrise. We were hoping for some great early morning light and some birds to photograph. The only problem was that some low clouds and a layer of fog obscured [...]]]>

My wife and I were up bright and early this morning so we could arrive at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park (PA) in time for sunrise. We were hoping for some great early morning light and some birds to photograph. The only problem was that some low clouds and a layer of fog obscured our early morning sunrise and the light left something to be desired. It even had the audacity to drizzle on us a bit.  And the birds decided to sleep in.

But we hung in there and eventually the skies began to clear, some birds did show up and we ended up having a pleasant morning. This is a 3-image HDR composite that I shot from a low foot bridge that crosses one end of the lake. I just liked the way the sky looked, the reflection in the water and lush green of the foliage on what is essentially a small island in the lake. I also liked the way the island takes you out into the lake and to the lone fishing boat anchored out off the point of the island. Finally, there is a moodiness, or maybe more appropriately a broodiness, to the image that I like.  Anyway, that’s my reason for making the image. Hope you enjoy it and can feel the peaceful morning. 

Image made with my Canon 30D and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens; handheld but on a wooden bridge railing for support and stability.

Addendum: 8/31/09 at 1845

The image below is similar to the one above but was made about 10 minutes later as the skies continued to clear.

Just thought I’d drop it in here for comparison sake.

Yesterday, my wife and I visited Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to do a bit of birding and bird photography. The birding highlight of the morning was seeing a Mourning Warbler (a new one for both of us). The bird photography highlight of the morning was photographing this young (juvenile) Eastern Kingbird who [...]]]>

Yesterday, my wife and I visited Peace Valley Park in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to do a bit of birding and bird photography. The birding highlight of the morning was seeing a Mourning Warbler (a new one for both of us). The bird photography highlight of the morning was photographing this young (juvenile) Eastern Kingbird who just keep returning to this same branch over and over again. The branch was practically at eye level and close enough that I could pretty much fill the frame with the bird. Here are just two of nearly 100 images that I made of that same Kingbird as he continued to return to the same perch.

Images made with my Canon 50D and 300mm f/2.8L IS lens w/ 2x teleconverter, tripod-mounted.

P.S. I really like the pouffy look in the second image.

Now that I got your attention… Ok, what can I say? The way things have been going of late, this is my feeble attempt at humor.  After the beauty of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, I thought I would balance it with the “face only a mother could love” carp! The big carp were wallowing in the [...]]]>

Now that I got your attention… Ok, what can I say? The way things have been going of late, this is my feeble attempt at humor.  After the beauty of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, I thought I would balance it with the “face only a mother could love” carp! The big carp were wallowing in the flats at Lake Galena in Peace Valley Park yesterday. At one point several were right below me and the bridge I was standing on. So during a lull in the bird and amphibian action, I took several shots. No polarizer or anything to help so there is a bit of a glare. But as soon as I saw the first image, the title popped into my head.