03.31.2020-2 Hopping water at Hop Brook

As part of the looking back exercise, I came across this file from 2017 that had never been processed. It was part of a shoot along this brook that parallels the New England Trail in Belchertown, MA. I’ve posted several images from here over the years but this cascade is here for the first time. And I don’t shoot them from above all that often so this is a little different in that way.

I was terribly remiss in not keeping the metadata up to date, but that is enabling me to start going back and finding images that haven’t seen the light of day since being captured. I’d rather be out shooting new images but if stuck in the house this is a good way to spend the time.  And it never hurts to update old processed images with new tools and skills.

03.31.2020 Signs of Spring

When I went looking for flowers the other day, the day of the mushroom, I did find some signs of future flowering. Among the early bloomers are columbine. I am following the lead of some who are posting old images as an exercise in self-isolation although when I have the opportunity to go out and do some photography I will. There are a number of places I can go where I have always been isolated and walks in nature are allowed.

Some of these have appeared here before but have been updated.

The First Sign Of Columbine.

As the stem extends and the leaves capture dew.

Budded

Blooms

Of course, the ultimate columbine shot involves a hummingbird which I’ve never managed to capture.  Maybe this year.

03.30.2020 A Hidden Gem

Another that got overlooked.  I only made this one exposure and at first glance I wasn’t impressed.  But I decided to follow Michael Scandling‘s lead (if you aren’t following Mike’s posts you are missing some fine work, abstract and otherwise) and do some pixel wrangling. Half the image was overly bright and there were a lot of distractions. Much dodging and burning, a bunch of targeted contrast adjustments, and this is the result.

I think it was worth the effort and reminds me a bit of autumn reflections.

03.29.2020 Silent Sunday

03.28.2020-2 I’m a Little Elf Cup, Short and Stout

Can’t you just imagine little Shirley Temple singing that?    😀

Red is such a cheerful color.  🙂

Actually, it’s a Scarlet Elf Cup fungus.  What a cutie, eh? Sarcoscypha dudleyi or austriaca.  Either way, the common name is the same…it has a couple of others that are similar. The ‘or’ part is that the two species are impossible to tell apart without genetics.

03.28.2020 Escape

03.27.2020 Dean Brook Crash and Splash 2

This was a bit more challenging deciding where to stand. I had to perch on the edge of a ledge, a ledge edge, between some trees.  But there were a few feet of leeway to each side and getting the right angle made a difference.  Again, although informed by the previous post’s exposure, it still required some trial and error to get the right effect.

The rock in this case is more submerged but large enough to act a bit like a dam.  Again, despite the loud and roiling water, a sense of peace.

70-200@85mm with Polarizer, f/11, 1/6 sec, ISO 400.  I liked the diagonal resisting the downstream flow.