Tag Archives: sunrise

Barge at Sunrise

Posted by Mike on

Some more images from my early morning walk on Sunday. I usually find something interesting when I walk the trails along the barge canal. This barge and tug were docked just beyond a gate into an access area for Utica, NY. I have noticed quite a lot of activity the past few weeks along the canal. I think there is an effort to dredge our section of the canal and keep it accessible.

Both of these images are three exposure brackets combined using Photomatix. I generally start with a simple tone mapped default and tweak the settings to achieve the image I want. I tend to keep the color saturation to a minimum and hopefully create a more realistic, natural image rather than an ‘over the top’ HDR image. Finally adjustments to the exposure and a slight gradient added in Lightroom.

Barge at Sunrise Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/3, 1.3, 5s bracket), 19mm, f/16, ISO 100

Barge at Sunrise
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (1/3, 1.3, 5s bracket), 19mm, f/16, ISO 100

Tug and Barge Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 15s bracket), 70mm, f/16, ISO 100

Tug and Barge
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, (0.8, 3, 15s bracket), 70mm, f/16, ISO 100

Pre-Sunrise over the Thruway

Posted by Mike on

My plans changed this morning when I received a text from an operator at work and I decided it was easier to drive in to help him. I ended up staying about an hour getting some parts in place to make tomorrow a little easier. As I left work around 6:30am the sun was just making its presence known in the sky. I decided it would be a good time to capture the image I have been wanting from the pedestrian walkway over the NY State thruway.

I had the lens as close as possible to the chain link fence but I just couldn’t keep it out of the image. I suppose if I didn’t have the wide angle lens on the camera it would have been easier to not include the fence. The colors in the sky and the light trails from the cars is what I really wanted anyway. Mission accomplished…

Pre-Sunrise over the ThruwayNikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 15s, 70mm, f/22, ISO 100

Pre-Sunrise over the Thruway
Nikon D5100, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4, 15s, 70mm, f/22, ISO 100

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…

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