Category Archives: photography

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

Secondary Falls

Posted by Mike on

I attempted to explore Whetstone Gulf state park just outside of Lowville, NY yesterday but ended up returning after finding out the trails close to the public at 3pm. I had arrived at 4pm in an attempt to get some nice sunset pictures, I guess the next trip will have to be early morning. I didn’t see any signs forbidding hikers on the trails in the early hours.

The day was not a total bust though as I stopped at Pixley Falls state park on my return trip. The ground was not as soft and wet as my previous visit so I was able to do some off-trail exploring. I managed to climb down a slope to get to this secondary falls. It was one I spotted during my last visit but was unable to get into position. Of course, the best view was from two thirds the way down the slope. Luckily there were some tree roots I could use to hold the tripod.

Secondary Falls
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 1/3s, 38mm, f/8, ISO 100

From the car window…

Posted by Mike on

My daughter has been more interested in learning to drive this summer. I think it is directly related to the number of her friends that have already received their licenses. She asked if we could go get ice cream after dinner tonight and of course I fell for the trap and said yes. The next questions was ‘Can I drive?’. Don’t get me wrong, she is a great driver. Probably should schedule her road test but she needs a little more practice with driving in the city.

Anyway, I thought I would use the short trip to play with the camera in the car. I managed to get a few usable images but threw away quite a lot more. Here are a couple I liked. Nothing earth shattering, but it was fun to play…

From the car window…
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/200s, f/4, ISO 800

Rearview
Nikon D5100, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8, 1/60s, f/4, ISO 800