Category Archives: landscape

Field of White

Posted by Mike on

Pasture, Egypt Road, Boonville

Well, I changed my plans yesterday. I was going back to the zoo for more images of the animals but as the morning progressed the conditions improved to the point I had to go North to use the snowshoes. I had mentioned in a previous post the Black River Environmental Improvement Association (BREIA) and the x-country ski/snowshoe trails they have throughout northern Oneida county. Yesterday turned into the perfect day to go for a walk. I’ll have a post of my adventure later.

On my way up to the trail head I came across this view. I had turned onto Egypt Road and the sun was breaking through the clouds. I stopped the car and jumped out with the camera. Luckily, it is a country road with little traffic. I was able to grab this nice view with the mostly frozen creek running through it.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Field of White

 

My original image had the sun in the view but I was unable to remove the power lines running through the top portion of the image. Try as I might my Photoshop skills were not up to the task. Once I had the thought the lines needed to go I could not see the image with them in it. I modified the crop to a 16×9 ratio losing the majority of the sky. It did refocus the attention on the creek which is really what I wanted to capture anyway.

Bellamy Lights

Posted by Mike on

Bellamy Harbor Park, Rome, NY

Wednesday morning as I started my journey to work I was nudged out of my routine by the moon breaking through the clouds. It was a day before the full moon and about forty-five minutes before moon set. For a few miles I was having that old debate in my head…

You should stop and capture some pics of the moon!

But, that will make me late for work.

Late! You are usually forty-five minutes early every day.

But it will feel late to me!

But look at that moon!

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Bellamy Lights

 

I drove past the on-ramp to the highway and headed toward Bellamy Harbor Park at the southern end of Rome. I was hoping to catch the moon reflected off the water of the barge canal and depending on its position in the sky some of the park lights as well.

It almost worked. Tuesday night was the night of the freezing rain. The snow covered ground was one giant ice rink! I also forgot how fast the moon moves through the sky when it is near the horizon. By the time I was able to ‘skate’ my way from the car to a location near the water the moon was almost out of view.

See that one whiter, less star flared light near the left end of the walkway bridge. That is the moon. Yeah, by driving to the park I lowered my elevation so much the moon appeared even lower in the sky. As I continued my drive to work after capturing a few images I thought I could try again on Thursday. No such luck, cloudy and rainy. Maybe on Friday… 😉

Coming Home

Posted by Mike on

Melbourne Beach, Florida

The weather hasn’t truly been bad. Listening to the reports I am happy I do not leave off the Eastern shore of Lake Ontario. They have been hit hard this past week. We did experience some unpleasant weather on Tuesday. There is a warm front coming through my area. Around 3pm the sleet and freezing rain started. I opted to leave work early in hopes of out running the weather East. The ride home had its moments but in the end I only traveled an extra 5 minutes due to the weather.

The drive did have me thinking about the beautiful weather I left in Florida back in December. In particular, the last day where I was at the beach for the sunrise. I had an opportunity to switch out my lens to the telephoto and capture the sandpipers and seagulls. On the way home I kept thinking of this particular image I was able to capture of three gulls heading back toward the beach. I had to finish processing and then post it.

  

MLCreations Photography: Florida &emdash; Coming Home

  

I used quite a few of my compositional tricks to help improve the chances you will like this image. 🙂 I’ll tell on myself and explain what I did…

In my post about the new 52 week challenge I joined I talked about the rule of thirds. That rule is in full force in this image. Can you spot them all?

First, the horizon is on the bottom third horizontal line. Next I placed the three seagulls on the left vertical line. As luck would have it the gulls are also on one of the intersection points. Now, the highlight on the right where the sun will eventually break above the clouds is on the right vertical line. See what I mean by the rule of thirds is in full force.

Now there are few other eye-catching tricks employed in this image. There are three separate layers to the image. The water/waves are in the bottom third of the image and become the foreground. The clouds on the horizon are in the middle third while the gulls and bright yellow/orange sky are the top third. The clouds effectively become the background and the gulls and the hint of the sun are the subtle subject.

One last trick is the odd number of seagulls. This is often referred to as the rule of odds. The brain does not try to ‘pair’ off the odd number and bring a dullness or ‘sameness’ to an image. You can read more about this photographic ‘rule’ at another Digital Photography School article here.

So, did I succeed? Did my tricks influence you at all?

Surf Dreamin’

Posted by Mike on

Cocoa Beach Pier, Florida

Not only should you be looking at your ‘keepers’ but the less than perfect images are learning experiences as well. And sometimes the oops or ah, crap images are avenues for creative outlets. I never throw away an image until after a long consideration and inspection.

 

MLCreations Photography: Florida &emdash; Surf Dreamin'

 

This image is the result of me not paying attention! I was focused on getting the shot and neglected to watch as the surf was coming further up the beach. This five second exposure was almost done when a big wave came crashing towards me. I grabbed the tripod and tried to out run the water. One soaked foot later and an image interrupted I learned to keep one eye out on the water.

But the same principal applies to this image as does an image with car lights. The main exposure was almost set (a little underexposed) and the only points tracked during my grab and go are the intense lights. To me it looks as if I tried to do light painting around the pier area. The surf is smooth light I wanted. The clouds are exposed to my liking and the pier stands out as it should.

Because of the movement in the last 20% of the exposure there was a natural softness to the image. I was able to recover most of the detail in the pier but in the end I went with a soft and dreamy look to enhance how I felt about the image. And yes, I am dreaming about my next trip to Florida! LOL

Creativity

Posted by Mike on

Topaz Labs Plugins

When I was starting my journey into photography and was devouring as much information as I could find. I was reading books, scouring the internet and exploring other photographer’s work via Google Plus. I was also posting to as many photography themes on G+ as interested me. I was still using my little Sony P&S camera while still learning how to create images like those I was viewing online.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; DeltaLakesKnoll

Delta Lake Knoll – Original
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/125s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

On a whim I entered a photography contest where the prize was some software to use with Lightroom/Photoshop. It was the Topaz Labs plugins and fortunate for me the contest did not involve having to post an image. I was lucky enough to be one of the two winners and have maintained the software, using it when necessary, since late in 2011.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Glow

Delta Lake Knoll – Glow
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/125s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

There were times while using the software where I might have gone a little overboard with my processing. I am sure I used it as a crutch when I did not manage to bring home the image I wanted but was able to manipulate an OK image to make a posting. I believe I have struck the right balance with my processing and have learned how to create the image that is in my head when I press the shutter.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Simplify

Delta Lake Knoll – Simplify
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/125s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

 

My photography is not always about capturing a pixel perfect replica of the scene I am viewing while out exploring. Although that might have been my original thought as to what photography was suppose to be, I have learned to let my images be a release of creativity. I am going to use all the tools at my disposal to change what I have captured into what I see. Every person sees differently and I try to present images that allow you to see what I see.

  

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Impression

Delta Lake Knoll – Impression
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/125s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

  

So today I decided to present a few different views of the same scene that I have created using the Topaz Labs plugins. I generally use the software in a more subtle approach but I thought it would be fun to show what it is capable of creating.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Texture Effects

Delta Lake Knoll – Texture Effects
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/125s, 24mm, f/11, ISO 200

Pier Lights – Three Ways

Posted by Mike on

Riverside Park, Indialantic, FL

I mentioned in a previous post that my daughter and I went out before sunrise on our last day in Florida. She had wanted to go to the beach and I, of course, wanted more pictures. Our first stop was at Riverside Park. I love going to this park, especially around sunrise or sunset time. The park has a great pier jutting out into the Indian River. I can see the 192 Causeway into Melbourne. And there are a lot of places for me to setup my tripod. 🙂

This particular image I was trying to use the lights along the causeway to mimic the outline of the pier. It also has quite a few of the elements I enjoy photographing. It was before sunrise so I would need a long exposure (20 seconds). There are light reflections as well as a silhouette of the pier. I can easily say this is one of my go to places whenever I am in the Melbourne/Palm Bay area.

My indecision comes in with the processing I wanted to apply to this image. I like the color image. I have the contrasting yellow lights with the blue tinted water and sky. There are a few other splashes of color from various light reflections. And there is a soft blending of the magentas with the blues and yellows in the sky and water. While processing this image there is a step where I adjust the sharpness which is done in B&W. The program automatically switches to allow me to see the detail better. I thought that image looked nice as well.

So I applied my normal B&W processing using Topaz Lab’s B&W Effects. This is the second image which I used a cool tone treatment. And I guess I was in an exploring mood I also processed the image using Nik Collections Silver Efex Pro. I was going to a bluer look for the image and this software had better options for me. This would be the third image.

I like them all. I know I am suppose to have a clear idea in my head of the image I want to make but sometimes playing with an image is fun too. Experimentation is what keeps me interested. I want to see what other types of images I can create. I want to push myself into different areas. Granted, I didn’t push to far, but I played and I learned.

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Pier Lights

Pier Lights
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 20s, 28mm, f/11, ISO 800

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Pier Lights - Cool

Pier Lights – Cool
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 20s, 28mm, f/11, ISO 800

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Pier Lights - Blue

Pier Lights – Blue
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 20s, 28mm, f/11, ISO 800