Monthly Archives: August 2012

Utica Marsh Take Two

Posted by Mike on

I was hoping to make a return trip to the Utica Marsh on Sunday morning but the weather forecast had me thinking I was going to encounter overcast skies. I decided to run down tonight and see what I could capture during the sunset. The sky cooperated by rolling in a few clouds and the sun played its part well.

Framed Marsh
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/20s, 35mm, f/16, ISO 100


Orange over Marsh
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/40s, 21mm, f/11, ISO 100

There was little to no wind so I tried my hand at a few bracketed sets so I could play with Photomatix. I have had some hit and miss sets lately while trying to create a nice HDR image. The first two images in this post a straight up processing with Lightroom and a quick trip into Topaz Labs Adjust. This image is a three exposure bracket with some finish processing in Lightroom.

Marsh Sunset Burst
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/100, 1/25, 1/6s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 100

Nighttime Play

Posted by Mike on

The colors in the sky during and just after the sunset where amazing last night. I have been wanting to get out with the camera and play with some long exposure and learn how to use my shutter remote. I definitely need to play some more to get a better understanding of the techniques and camera capabilities. I still had a great time playing until the bugs starting eating too much…

Color Silhouette
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 35s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 100


As bright as the sun
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 30s, 28mm, f/16, ISO 400


Evening Sky
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 44s, 17mm, f/16, ISO 1600

Early Morning at the Marsh

Posted by Mike on

I had a few appointments to go to today so I decided it was best to take a vacation day. This of course allowed me to use the early morning for a little exploring with the camera. I have been admiring the color of the wildflowers in the Utica Marsh and thought today would be a great time to catch the sunrise. It was a beautiful morning but a fog had settled in the Mohawk Valley disrupting my plan. It wasn’t a total loss though as I was able to capture a few nice pictures.

The first image is the walkway bridge over both the Utica/Rome expressway and Interstate 90.

To fly over the chaos…
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/20s, 17mm, f/4, ISO 1600

The next two images are from the bridge over the barge canal looking west. I loved the fog rising from the water and the train trestle in the distance.

Early morning moody
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 55mm, f/8, ISO 100


Floating Bridge
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/6s, 70mm, f/8, ISO 100

Finally an image of the marsh, just not the one I had hoped for. This was after waiting close to 45 minutes for the sunrise and some of the fog to clear. BTW, the light spot in the middle is the sun peeking through the tree line. I watched as the spotlight area kept growing…

Sun and Fog on the Marsh
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/30s, 26mm, f/11, ISO 100

And then on my way back to the car I caught the sun illuminating the swampy side of the canal.

The Swampy Side in the Sun
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/40s, 21mm, f/11, ISO 100