Category Archives: photography

Rock Beach

Posted by Mike on

We interrupt the regularly scheduled snowfall to bring you this alien landscape from one week ago…

Rock Beach
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/3, 1/13, 1/50s bracket), 17mm, f/18, ISO 200

Calendar Contest

Posted by Mike on

Last week I did something a little out of character for me, I submitted some of my pictures to the local paper for a contest to be in their 2013 calendar. The Utica Observer-Dispatch distributes a free calendar each January in its paper and every fall it holds a contest that allows local photographers to submit pictures which will be voted on by the readers. Trust me, this is not something I would have normally done, but I have been having some real good feedback about my pictures online and thought ‘What the heck? What is the worst that could happen?’.

A friend at work brought me the entry information and I went out on a limb and sent in 6 pictures. Two of the pictures have made the cut and are now in the voting phase. The voting runs from November 27th through December 3rd at Utica OD Calendar Contest. The paper selected three images for each month and the picture with the most votes will be used for that month. I have an image for February and June.

My daughter hopes the June picture wins because it is her birthday month. Personally, I’m just excited to be included. After the voting is over I’ll let everyone know how I made out…

Good Start, So-So Finish…

Posted by Mike on

The day after Thanksgiving found me having to get out and moving early. Not to shop but to work off all the food I ate the day before. Luckily, it was a beautiful morning and unusually warm. We had traveled down to my mother-in-law’s house which is next to the heifer barn on the family farm. I went for a walk out into the fields and was greeted with an early color show prior to the official sunrise of the day.

Good Start, So-So Finish
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 42s, 21mm, f/16, ISO 100


My plan for the day was to leave early on the trip back home (I have to work on Saturday for a few hours) and stop at a few waterfalls south of Syracuse. There is a great website New York Waterfalls and Nature that Scott Thomas at Views Infinitum had clued me into. I had already mapped out a plan and the cloud cover that was building suited me just fine since I didn’t want a bright sunny day.

I headed out a little after noon planning on making it to the first location around 2pm. My enthusiasm started to wane as I approached Cortland and a steady rain settled in for the remainder of my trip. I drove by both stops making a promise to myself to return at the first opportunity.

At least the day started off right…

Beachcomber

Posted by Mike on

Sitting on the edge of the beach waiting for the sun to set I spied this lone rock disturbing the sand. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a close-up. Luckily, I had done my research before I bought my tripod earlier this year. I made sure the legs reverse folded allowing me to get the camera very low to the ground. The wide angle lens gave me the close-up of the rock I wanted, and it still provided a nice view of the beach and sky. I knew I would be taking this one into Photomatix for a little HDR help so I used a 3 image exposure bracket to capture the scene.

Beachcomber
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/40, 1/10, 0.4s bracket), 17mm, f/16, ISO 200

Skipping Stones

Posted by Mike on

Another weekend started off with me having to work Saturday morning. At least the whole day was not lost as I was able to leave around 11am. The afternoon was setting itself up for a nice sunset but my hopes for exploring with the camera were postponed as we decided to head out for a movie. I can’t complain, Skyfall was quite good and I still had one more day in the weekend.

Sunday managed to be an even better day than Saturday, so around 3pm I headed over to Delta Lake state park. I planned on getting in a little exploring while I waited for the sunset to settle in. The lake is still quite low and you are able to walk along the edge in places not accessible when the level is normal. As I was capturing some images of the rocks against the water a couple walked past trying to skip some stones.

It was one of those ‘ah ha’ moments for me. After they left my area I set up the tripod near the water, searched for some good skipping stones and started to create the image I envisioned of a stone skipping across the water. Funny thing is, my first attempt was the best. I did manage to get a few others but this one is the one I like the best.

Skipping Stones
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/10s, 38mm, f/20, ISO 200