04.30.2013 Harvard Pond Atmospheric

Harvard Pond, a property of Harvard Forest, is another of those places I can’t stop visiting over and over.  See the top of the page.

Also from Sunday morning the 28th, here is another monochrome but not quite so abstract.  I went to Harvard Pond with the fallen branch and reflection in mind.  But when I got out of the van I saw the sun streaking through these trees and decided to make this image first.  The fog was drifting across the water, changing its shape and with varying luminosity.  I chose this frame as I liked both the strength of the filtered light and the streaks of fog and shadow coming from the tree on the point.  I think the sky would be even better with clouds and some blue sky (converted to black and white of course) but that wasn’t available this time.

Please click the image for a larger view.I am beginning to be quite taken with black and white imaging, but color will return shortly.

04.28.2013 Another return trip

The first thing I would like to do here is thank Gail Platz and the membership of the Quabbin Photo Group for inviting me to give a presentation of my images this past Monday, April 22nd.  The group were great hosts and I really appreciated the opportunity and warmth they offered.  It was an enjoyable experience and has me considering pursuing  more programs in the future.

Apparently my theme this year will be do-overs.  I shot an image of this dead branch in the water at Harvard Pond last year while there were lily pads floating and clouds hovering but felt a better image could be created when the pads were absent.  In both cases I considered the branch a good black and white subject.  For most of my time as a photographer I have always responded to nature in color.  Slowly I am thinking more in monochrome…at least where the color is not necessarily the subject of the image and really is more of a distraction than an asset.

Here is the image I made last year- As always, please click for a larger view:This morning provided a cloudless sky with little color, perfect for a high key rendering of the abstract formed by the branch:Today is also Mary Beth’s and my 29th anniversary.  She is wonderful and easily the better half of the duo.  A very lucky day for me on April 28, 1984.  I have no trouble remembering the date.

04.02.2013 Owl Rock Cascade

Keeping with the two looks at one subject theme, here is a water feature that I am calling Owl Rock Cascade as it reminds me of a Barn Owl.  I hope Andrew can see it this time.

When in college at UMass, my friends and I would go to this spot we called the cascades for a swim in the pool at the base of the brook that had cut through the solid rock over the years.  Swimming is now, and probably was then too, frowned upon as it is part of our town’s drinking water supply. There is an old chimney standing at the upper part that must have been part of a mill years ago.  In May it is also my favorite place to photograph Painted Trillium and Pink Lady’s Slippers.  A good place for mushrooms too it is.

As always, please click for a larger view.

After the pool, there is the rock and cascade.Again, this is a nice scene on its own, but I really like the rock so I have composed a more intimate view which, I hope, suggests to you a Barn Owl. My friend and local photographer, Keith Carver….bird photographer extraordinaire…sees a Barn Owl also.  Click on his name and get lost in his bird images.

03.31.2013 Seeing it a little differently

In 1994 I was pretty much a point and shoot photographer of natural history.  If I saw something interesting I set up and got an image.  Sometimes they were ok but, quite honestly, most are now relegated to boxes and quite likely will never see the light of day again.  A few are still relevant.

The first image is from 1994 while Mary Beth and I were vacationing at Acadia N.P.  At that time I was running my small antique restoration business and working at the furniture store too.  So photography was on the back burner and only got my attention at times like our vacations.  In 2003 I was advised that I was working too much and find something to enjoy.  Photography was the natural path and I am very grateful for that advice.

Please click to see the images at a larger size.

What attracted me most about the subjects was the grip of the roots to each other.  The rest of the slope is not all that attractive and I have yet to get just the right angle and light to make this a more pleasing image.  But here it is….a Kodachrome 25 transparency scanned on a Nikon 4000 scanner.

Fast forward to 2009 and we were hiking the same trail when Mary Beth pointed the trees out again and I did a couple of different compositions.  The first is, once again, sort of a point and shoot shot.  A little more to the point and thoughtful but still mostly a “look, isn’t the root and rock interesting” sort of thing.

After walking around a bit I noticed an angle that seems to be a bit more expressive and I am happy with the result.  I am not done with this scene and very much looking forward to my next visit to the trail.

03.26.2013 Yet another return engagement…Gunn Falls

Some places just keep you coming back for more.  And even though it is straddling between snow and the mud season, I returned to Gunn Falls this past Sunday.  I wanted to check on the leaning Hemlock tree (hard to tell but it is leaning into the image overhead here) to see if it survived another winter…it has.  I climbed up the hill to the upper falls and found a really good flow happening but the sky was overcast and an awfully bright distraction over the falls.

Please click the images for a larger view.

 

 

 

 

OK, but not a great image.  There is so much character in this waterfall that I decided to concentrate on just an intimate view of the water flowing over the rocks.  Fortunately, the water is very shallow and I was able to stand at a nice angle for framing the jumping water and get some nice veiling with a slow exposure using just a circular polarizer.

 

 

 

 

I have photographed these waterfalls for several years, as well as the ledges nearby for spring wildflowers, and they never disappoint.  I can hardly wait for the Spring blooms to begin in a few weeks.

03.17..2013 Another sunrise from New Salem

Repeating myself, along with general confusion, has been called “Typical Steve” by co-workers all too often.  Here I go again.

I love this vantage point in New Salem.  It is a nice view to the north looking toward Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire which is about a 30 mile as the crow flies distance.  And it is right off the road so very easy to set up.  I need to start hiking though.

It was very quiet and the only sound I heard was a turkey or maybe two gobbling off in the distance.  Often there are coyotes giving forth but not yesterday.  I just had some conversation with a new friend from Indonesia, Lottie Nevin, about pollution so it is on my mind to complain about the trash people feel the need to throw down the hill here.  It has been worse but really there should be none.  I have a favorite waterfall that I visit, Gunn Falls, which is a locale for late night drinking and the amount of trash, especially broken beer bottles, is appalling.  What the heck…if you can carry it in then carry the damned stuff out!

Well, here is yesterday’s image.  Much more pleasant to view than the trash.

03.04.2013 Two more ice abstracts

Winter is just about done.  We may get a little snow Wednesday, but for the most part the melting continues and it should not be long before we see some spring bulbs prettying up the yard.  For the time being, I still have a bit of winter to share.  I am finding myself drawn more to black and white photography lately.  Color certainly adds a lot of beauty to an image, but presenting an image in monochrome allows more emphasis on shapes and patterns.  They can also be appreciated well in color, but the removal of color may place a bit more emphasis on the relationships within the image.  So here is one B&W and one color image for your entertainment.  In all honesty, there really wasn’t any color to speak of in number one anyway.

One more from the boat cove.

 

 

Getting even more intimate with the landscape, here are a bunch of frozen bubbles with some prismatic effect.