Tag Archives: landscape

Evening Light

Posted by Mike on

Kiwanis Park at Geiger Point, Melbourne, FL

A friend of mine retired at the end of 2016. He and his wife are spending February down in Florida. They are near Melbourne and I had hoped to make a quick trip down to visit him. Work kinda got in the way and I do not believe I will make it down.

It would have been cool to spend some time running around Florida together doing nothing in particular. Of course, it would have given me more opportunities for sunrises and sunsets. I’m sure there will be other times…

Going through my images from December I ran across this view from Geiger Point near the 192 Causeway. I loved that evening as it was the first sunset after we arrived. The drive down had been long but I knew the best way to recharge was to get out with my camera. No jaw-dropping pics were captured but there was great light which is always good.

 

MLCreations Photography: Florida &emdash; Evening Light

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

Delta Day

Posted by Mike on

Delta Lake State Park

The new year started out fairly routine. Heck, if I am being honest it was boring from the very start. I’m not much for parties so I believe I was asleep by 11:15pm on New Year’s Eve.

Hey, no comments from you in the back!

I enjoyed my night. I watched a good portion of the second season for The Man in the High Castle. The book was interesting but the series on Amazon Prime is very good. I could have watched all ten episodes and then I would have surely been up past midnight, but I promised myself I would at least make an attempt to make the show last a few days. It worked a little… 😉

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Winter's Beach

 

Anyway, back to the first day of the new year. Grocery day! I was up close to my normal time. Shoveled the driveway. Got my cup of coffee and sat down at the computer to post my Year in Review blog article. I had spent most of the previous day writing it. I didn’t make any official resolutions for the new year, they never work out so why set myself up for the guilt. But I did have a few things on my mind concerning my photography journey and used the time before grocery shopping to investigate.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Halo

 

I wasn’t too hopeful for how the day would turn out with the weather, it was a rather blah morning. By early afternoon I realized it was turning into a day I should be outside enjoying. Although it was tough dragging myself off the couch, where I was enjoying a good book in the warmth of the sun coming though the window, I put on my coat and headed outside.  Wow, it was a gorgeous day!

First up, shovel the dusting of new snow off the driveway. With the sun beating down and the temps slightly over freezing any of the packed snow would begin to melt if I cleared away the covering. I then took a trip over to town in search of snowshoes. I’m thinking snowshoes would give me more chances to explore this winter and I know I could use the exercise! The one sporting goods store was closed, but a return is on my agenda for today.  If you do not hear from me again it is because I fell over while exploring with my snowshoes and couldn’t get up!

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Waters Edge

 

I walked up and down my road grabbing a few pics with my phone.  I had upgraded a few months ago to the new Google Pixel phone.  Although I am reading of issues other users have been having I am quite happy with the phone.  The camera is better than any of the previous phones I have owned and it is always fun for me to capture an image, process it with my phone apps and immediately post online.  Here is one of the images I managed to find yesterday:

 

 

As sunset approached I packed up my camera gear and headed to Delta Lake State Park. I wasn’t sure what I would find but I knew there would be other people out enjoying the day and I thought they could add some interest to any images I capture. The park did not disappoint. We had ice fishermen, cross-country skiers, snowshoers and some people out to enjoy the coming sunset. I had a good hour to explore and enjoy the ending of the day. I came home with a plethora of images to share. And rather then drip feed them to everyone, which only encourages me to not go look for more images, I am bringing them all to you in this post.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; The Point

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Through the Warmth of the Sun

 

This collection highlights what is possible to capture if you look around and are not afraid to experiment. All these images were captured within an hour time frame, yet there are so many different looks and feels. Each image changes the environment I was in. Use a faster shutter speed and you can darken a bright day. Convert an image to monochrome and you can highlight the shadows that play across the snow. Point your camera into the sun and create sun flare to enhance an image.

 

MLCreations Photography: Blog Post Related &emdash; Anticipation

 

I will attempt to create posts that include more thought. Last year I took the easy way out most of the time and only posted an image. I think that cheapens your experience of what I created. I can enjoy a beautiful picture but I connect with the image more when I know some of the story behind it. Maybe my stories will connect with you… 🙂