It's My Nature » covered bridge

Two More

Ed — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:46:42 +0000

… Lensbaby images. I hear the groans. I understand. I attended a presentation last night by Tony Sweet, he of the workshop I attended back in late October and one heck of a photographer. He also happens to be a Lensbaby “guru” and presented some Lensbaby images during the course of his presentation.

I also had an opportunity to chat with a couple of other photographers who also use the Lensbaby and they also find that blurred/bent Lensbaby images garner very polarized responses. You love ‘em or you hate ‘em. Depends what you are looking for in an image.

So with just a little bit of trepidation, here goes. Two Lensbaby images from my lunchtime walk yesterday.

The subject for the first image was found underneath the subject for the second. As I was checking out the covered bridge looking for a composition I liked, I happened to notice this yellow glow shining out from beneath the bridge. Upon closer inspection, I discovered these leaves still hanging on for dear life. Image shot with the f/4.0 aperture ring. Remember the Lensbaby has a relatively small sweet spot (particularly at f/4.0) and then starts to go soft.

After coming out from under the bridge, I found this perspective on the bridge that I liked. It is actually very similar to the composition on an IR/Topaz image I posted a couple of weeks back (I think I called it “And Now for Something a Little Different”). This was also shot at f/4.0. And I also decided to work this Lensbaby image in Topaz Adjust and Topaz Simplify which among other things, really boosted the saturation a lot. I like where it ended up.

As always, I appreciate your comments tremendously.

And Now for Something a Little Different – The Old Covered Bridge (IR and Topaz)

Ed — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:35 +0000

Objective: Experiment with IR images for the purpose of taking them beyond the typical IR landscape image; To utilized some of the more creative techniques that I have been using with color images on IR images.

Location: Bogert’s Bridge, Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, Pa.

Time: Today at High Noon

Conditions: Sunny; Shooting position shaded by a large tree

Camera: Canon Rebel XT converted to Infrared by LifePixel

Lens: Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L; Focal Length 24mm

Settings: 1/50 sec @ f/11; ISO 100; -1/3 EV; Custom WB for IR

Post-Processing: Basic adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop CS4; Topaz Adjust (Spicify Preset as starting point); Topaz Simplify (BuzSim Preset as starting point)

Bridges

Ed — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:57:25 +0000

Yesterday morning, my wife and I headed out to the Delaware Canal State Park below Upper Black Eddy, Pa. (I just love that name!) The Delaware Canal State Park is a real spaghetti noodle of a state park running some 60 miles in length and only about 50 feet wide (the width a the canal bed and the towpath). Unfortunately much of this park was devastated by floods from Hurricanes Francis and Ivan, a couple of years back. The state is working on rebuilding most of it and it is expected to take another year or two to be completed. The part we were on was spared because it is the one stretch where the canal deviates from following the river and moves inland – far enough to not be destroyed by the flooding. For most of its length the towpath and canal are bordered by private property – some more private than others. Once again my wife was on the lookout for birds (best finds of the day were Orchard Orioles and a Louisiana Waterthrush) while I had my mind set on photographing some bridges that I knew were there.

One bridge that I really wanted to photograph was the Uhlerstown Covered Bridge. Unfortunately the property adjoining the bridge is owned by one of those folks who take privacy very seriously. Orange cones line the edge of the towpath and her property line and yellow police line tape surounds a flower bed that runs along one side of the bridge. As I stood there surveying the situation, she came out and chatted for a moment. I commented that I wanted to photograph the bridge and was trying to figure out what to do about the cones and tape. She made it very clear that I wasn’t going to move them. I wasn’t suggesting that I would. What I meant was what I would do compositionally to work around the cones and tape.

This is what I came up with. It is an HDR composite image of a small portion of the bridge. I liked the way the shadows fell along the side. And I liked the way I could see through the openings – sort of “in one window and out the other”.

In addition to the covered bridge, there were several open wooden bridges over the canal bed (which is dried up in many areas). I particularly like this one. This is another HDR composite image which just makes the color explode of the page/screen in my estimation. Looking at this image, you can see the entire width of the park. But doesn’t it look like a wonderful place for a walk?

Reminiscences – A Walk in the Park

Ed — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 09:08:37 +0000

Yesterday morning my wife and I went for a walk in the Lehigh Parkway in Allentown, Pa. In many regards, the city of Allentown has fallen on some hard times and hasn’t been able to bounce back like other areas cities (most notably Bethlehem during the decline and death of Bethlehem Steel). But the one thing Allentown does still have is an absolutely exceptional, some may say world class, park system. The Lehigh Parkway following the Little Lehigh Creek for miles is truly the jewel of that system.

As we walked yesterday, we passed numerous fisherman (the Little Lehigh is one of the best trout streams in the state), joggers, walkers, cyclists, dog walkers and horse riders. There were even signs going up for a women’s 5K race through the parkway. But through it all, it remained a quiet and serene morning stroll. Very different from what it used to be like on Sundays in my youth. Back in the late 60s/early 70s, the “Parkway” was the place to be. The single roadway passing through was always turned one-way on Sundays. The road was choked with cars, bumper to bumper from one end to the other. There was nowhere to park. And everywhere you looked were the youth of the Lehigh Valley. Music played. And the children of the 60s did what children of 60s did.

To this day, rumors persist that John Lennon used to bring the boys from NYC to the Lehigh Parkway to frolic in open air during the much quieter mid-weeks back then. Our local paper just revived those old rumors with a reminiscence of their own in the past year.

But things are much different now. The teens of the 21st century don’t hang out in the Parkway. And things are left to us older folks. It was a great morning. I had a chance to work some of the kinks out of my landscape and IR photography prior to heading to Acadia National Park next week.

Which brings me to this particular image of Bogert’s Covered Bridge crossing the Little Lehigh Creek there in the Lehigh Parkway. This particular image is a HDR (High Dynamic Range) composite image made from a series of five individual images shot at different exposures with the base image shot at 1/80 sec @ f/11; ISO 100; 0 EV. The remaining four images were shot at -2, -1, +1 and +2 EV. The images were then combined using Photomatix HDR software before being finished in Lightroom and Photoshop 4.

The individual images were made using my Canon 30D and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens at 40mm, tripod-mounted.

I think this image captures some of the serene beauty of the Parkway and hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed our walk in the park!