Category Archives: landscape

Review Everything

Posted by Mike on

Wildcats Student Center
SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Normally on a Thursday I pick my daughter up from college around 5pm. This works out good for me since I generally get out of work at 4pm and then I have a little time if there are any errands I need to run or if I have something I want to go photograph. Last night she texted me she was going out with her friends for a little while and I had until 5:30pm before she needed to be picked up.

We had a snow/rain mixture going through our area which at the time I was leaving work had paused. I had some wonderful clouds moving around and the sun was getting ready to set. I headed over to the SUNY Poly campus to grab some dusk images of the buildings. I was very excited about this image of the Student Center.

The dark blue sky contrasted nicely with the grass and also with the lights from the building. I found a small puddle to get some reflections and add a nice visual element to my composition. I setup the camera to capture a three exposure bracket and fired away. A quick look at one of the images had me already thinking about how I was going to process the image so I packed up everything and headed back to the car.

I really like the image, except for the lens flare! Gggrrr! I didn’t review the whole image before I packed everything away. Now that lens flare is all I can see when I look at the image. Maybe I’ll be able to ‘hide’ it with my post processing skills.

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Wildcats Original

Wildcats Student Center – Original
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, {4, 10 & 25s bracket}, 12mm, f/ll, ISO 200

The dreaded lens flare up close! As you can probably tell by the tone of this post… my skills were not adequate to the task.

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Lens Flare

Wildcats Student Center – Lens Flare
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, {4, 10 & 25s bracket}, 12mm, f/ll, ISO 200

In order to remove that visual distraction from my image I changed the crop to 1×1. Still a nice picture but not the one I had in my head as I was on the campus capturing images. This version of the image does not have the same impact for me as the top image.

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Wildcats Student Center

Wildcats Student Center
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, {4, 10 & 25s bracket}, 12mm, f/ll, ISO 200

This reinforced a practice I seem to always forget when I get excited about a particular image. Review more closely to ensure you have everything you need to create the image you are so excited about. I have to remind myself of this more often than I should.

I still had a great time running around the campus, tripod and camera in tow, grabbing images of the buildings. It was a good night!

Time Passes

Posted by Mike on

Japan Pavilion, World Showcase,
Epcot, Walt Disney World

If I was to be pressed into picking my favorite park at Walt Disney World I am not sure I could give a single answer. It will always depend on the time of year, what events are currently happening and even what my mood is at the time of the question. Each parks holds something special that I enjoy.

There is one activity though that I can always answer as a favorite and that is photographing the pavilions around World Showcase at night. Especially after Illuminations as the park is emptying out and I practically have the areas to myself. My only constraint is staying a step ahead of security as is sweeps the park for guests.

On this night I planned to watch the fireworks from the entrance to World Showcase so I could work my way back toward the International Gateway, and my room at the Beach Club. This would allow me the largest number of pavilions if I take the long way around by starting in Mexico. One of my favorite pavilions for photography is Japan and I am always looking for interesting compositions although this is a straight on look trying to capture everything in the pavilion.

Time Passes

Time Passes
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 60s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200

Pillars at Sunrise

Posted by Mike on

Hinkley Reservoir

I have to resort to an image I captured Thanksgiving morning since the moment I backed the car out of the garage it started to rain. We never received the rain late yesterday and it is not forecast to rain today. Oh well, I can work with what I have and hopefully the weather will improve as the day progresses.

The Isolation image posted a few days ago was captured on my way up to the reservoir. It is a miracle I make it to where I want to go as I am always looking for images as I drive. Today’s image is the one I had in my head when I set out Thursday morning.

I have not found out what these pillars are doing next to the dam in the reservoir but they are interesting to photograph. They are barely visible when the water level in the Spring is high but during the summer and winter they emerge from the lake.

Pillars at Sunrise

Pillars at Sunrise
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1/3s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200

The Difference in Minutes

Posted by Mike on

Lock 20, Barge Canal

Another GREAT morning! I used the excuse to stop into work early to get myself motivated to go exploring. Yesterday’s early morning run was a success and I wanted to continue my streak (is two a streak?). I had the thought of capturing the tug boats docked at Lock 20 of the Barge Canal with the sunrise behind but that didn’t work out. Apparently they were docked there to be removed from the water.

Luckily for me the sky was putting on a show all of its own! The two images are only 15 minutes apart but the changes in the sky are beautiful. I captured one from above the lock and one from the lock looking down the canal.  It didn’t hurt that it was almost 55 degrees out this morning.  It is suppose to rain this afternoon but the start of the day was awesome!

Above the Lock

Above the Lock Olympus
OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 20s, 16mm, f/16, ISO 200

Below the Lock

Below the Lock
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.6s, 20mm, f/16, ISO 200

Isolation

Posted by Mike on

An early morning drive toward the rising sun let me find this view along the road. I’m getting pretty good at quick 3-point turns! I had to capture the colors of the sunrise in the clouds and the dark tones of the hills.

Isolation

Isolation
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 12-40mm f/2.8, 1.3s, 40mm, f/16, ISO 200

Storm Front Sunset

Posted by Mike on

I got out of work a few minutes late last night and was greeted with a beautiful sunset as I walked out the door. My head was racing for a location I could capture this from before it was gone. I jumped in the car and started driving toward the sun. Nothing was coming to mind and the sun was disappearing fast. I found a back road with a field and some trees. A quick 3-point turn and I pulled off into the field. I wish I had something better in the foreground but those colors were not to be missed.

Storm Front Sunset

Storm Front Sunset
Olympus OM-D E-M1, M. Zuiko 25mm f/1.8, 1/40s, f/16, ISO 200

Enoteca, Castello Banfi

Posted by Mike on

Italy Pavilion, World Showcase,
Epcot, Walt Disney World

Enoteca, Castello Banfi

Enoteca, Castello Banfi
Nikon D7100, Tokina 12-28mm f/4, 16s, 12mm, f/16, ISO 200