Category Archives: Nature
Frozen!
Within the 9 to 5
Although my job at work mainly consists of analyzing and programming, every once in a while, I get to work on a photography or video project. Back in October of 2012, I was given the opportunity to produce a music video for my company. It was done during the viral parody days of the now famous Carly Rae Jepson song, Call Me Maybe. I was given the task to create one of these videos promoting Manufacturing in Connecticut.
Being a huge fan of shows like “How it’s Made” and “Unwrapped”, I jumped at the chance to go in and video eight different manufacturing companies during a span of two weeks. Editing was very time consuming, but I enjoyed every minute (That’s probably a lie, but how I remember it now!).
A copyright issue with the song kept the video from playing on mobile devices for over a year, but apparently that has been lifted. We managed to get over 10,000 hits despite the problem, but I often wonder how many we would have received if it was available on phones and tablets from the start.
Frozen! Sylvan Lake, Watertown, CT
With all of the sub-freezing weather we’ve been having this year; I felt the need to post one of my favorite frigid feeling photos. Even though I am not a huge fan of the cold, I don’t mind (too much), photographing in it. Dressing in layers as well as wearing good thin gloves are two important keys for me to be happy while shooting. I definitely work a little quicker once the temp drops below freezing, but I can tolerate it enough to capture beautiful scenes like the one below.
Stay warm everyone! Spring is right around the corner!
Happy New Year!
2013 was quite a year for me and that’s putting it mildly. For the most part, photography took a back seat throughout the year, but it never fully left. I took on a few personal projects in the Photoshop composite realm to prepare for a new service I’d like to offer in New England. I’ll have more on this soon…
Proud Dad Moment!
I want to give a shout out to my oldest daughter! She placed Best in Show for juniors in a local photography contest in September! She inspires me to not only be a better photographer, but a better person, every single day. I couldn’t be prouder of my Goose!
Gray’s Beach Follow-up
I wrote in my last post (Gray’s Beach – Bass Hole Boardwalk) that I’d be posting more of Gray’s Beach to show off why I like going there so much. So… To make up for my lack of posting recently and to honor that commitment… Here are some of my favorites:
Cheers to a happy 2014! Looking forward to seeing what it has in store!
Gray’s Beach – Bass Hole Boardwalk
As a follow up to my last post, I want to share a little more about Gray’s Beach in Yarmouth Port, MA. I have been visiting this spot ever since my parents purchased a condo, just 5 minutes down the road from there, a few years ago.
There are nicer beaches in the area for swimming and sunbathing, but none have the photo opportunities that Gray’s Beach hold. Everywhere you look is another perfect “Cape Cod View”. I won’t go into much detail now, but I have many images over the years that should explain what I mean. I will be posting my favorites in the next few posts.
The Bass Hole Boardwalk
The signature photo-op of this bayside beach is the boardwalk that extends out over the surrounding salt marsh. If you go into any nature artist’s gallery in Cape Cod, you will more than likely find a painting or a photograph of this seemingly endless structure.This is my favorite image of the boardwalk. It was early on a beautiful August morning. I remember I loved the way the sun was hitting the boardwalk and making the grass glow, but in my first test shot, I could tell the contrast between the sky and shadow areas was too high. Luckily, HDR exists to help deal with such problems. I set up my camera to bracket +-2 stops and fired off a few sets. Once I found the composition I liked the most, I processed the three images in Photomatix and made further edits in Lightroom, Photoshop, and Nik Color Efex Pro until I was happy with the final image.
Cape Cod Vacation 2013
I don’t know how many times I have vacationed in Cape Cod, but it’s a lot, and minus the sometimes awful traffic, it’s always a great trip! I needed to get away, but my budget wasn’t going to allow for much this year. A relaxing trip to my parents’ condo in Dennis fit my needs perfectly!
The one photo treat I planned for myself was a whale watch. I had never been before, so I didn’t know quite what to expect. It turned out to be a perfect day out on the water! The number of whales I saw wasn’t anything to write home about, but one in particular female resurfaced over and over allowing me, and all the other camera toting passengers, to have many attempts at capturing the massively sized mammal in her own environment. This photo is one of my favorites from the trip. The boat ads a little perspective to the size of the whale, while the fishermen’s lack of response shows just how common this occurrence is. I still think I would be freaked out being in such a small boat compared to the whale, even if I was out there every day!
Gray’s Beach Before Sunrise
The entire week was extremely hot and humid, so I didn’t have too much desire to do any photographing other than the whale watch. I spent the days at the beach and the nights relaxing. I went out one morning very early; about thirty minutes before sunrise and the impending ninety degree heat. I headed to one of my favorite spots near my parents’ place that always yields nice images…
I have to admit, I intended to stay longer and wait for sunrise, but the bugs were overwhelming that morning and after ten minutes of shooting in the predawn light, I couldn’t take it anymore. I packed up and headed for another location. This is my favorite from that mini session and my repayment for dealing with the pesky flies as long as I did!
Blueberry Fog
In one of my early posts (Blueberry Lake Before Sunrise), I wrote how I usually stop at Blueberry Lake first during my early morning rides when in Vermont.
Back in August of 2008, the small lake alongside Plunkton Rd. in Warren, VT was almost completely hidden from view as I drove past it. The fog had come in thick overnight, but as I looked back at the lake, I noticed a little sunlight trying to peek through.
I turned the car around and hurried to the parking lot. As I setup my camera and tripod, I started to see some detail in the surrounding evergreens . The fog was lifting and I wouldn’t have much time before the beautiful scene would be gone forever.
I only clicked the shutter 3 times that morning (at the lake), but it was stretched out over a few minutes as I waited for the fog to roll in or out between each shot. Some days I have more patience than others when it comes to my trigger happy shutter finger; especially on a foggy day, when the scene can be drastically different with each click; but this morning drive was my last of five in a row that trip, so I was a little burnt out and had already snapped off a couple thousand shots during the week, so taking my time and trying to get it right in camera was an easy choice to make. I already had many hours of editing time in my future and didn’t feel like piling it on that day. The composition, along with the way the sunlight hit the trees, made this one my favorite of the three, and it still holds as one of my favorite images.
Magical Shot! – Rockledge Golf Club
Golf
I love golf! I’ve been playing ever since I could remember. My dad would take me to one of the local courses near our home and we would chip and putt around the practice green for what seemed like hours. Knowing my dad’s patience is similar to my own, it was probably closer to a half hour or so, but it was fun no matter how long it was…
Magical Shot! – Rockledge Golf Club, West Hartford, CT
I love it when all the pieces fall into place for a photograph. In May of last year, good timing, manmade features, and the natural elements, aligned for this magical shot. I had left work a few minutes late, and if you know traffic in Hartford, that can be a major mistake most nights. The extra delay slowed me down enough to keep me in the city while the sun quickly worked its way down through the clouds and toward the horizon.
As I neared the exit for Rockledge Golf Club, I knew that I would be able to capture the dramatic sky from the parking lot overlooking the course. I hopped off the highway and as I pulled into the lot I saw the first member of this threesome teeing off. That gave me only a couple of minutes to park, hop out of the car, adjust my camera settings, and fire off three quick shots as the last player hit his ball down the fairway.
I looked at the LCD screen and knew I captured both the shot and the scenery to my liking. I was even more pleased when I looked at it on my monitor later that night, but I also knew I had quite a bit of work to do in edit. A few distracting elements needed to be removed and the guy in the middle was hunched over with his club protruding outward from his waste. I removed the club and stood him more upright using the cloning tools in Photoshop.
Dealing with a few glare spots as well as getting the color and tone the way I wanted was a big chore as well. Shooting into the sun creates a lot of contrast, but luckily technology is offering up new and better ways to deal with that all the time and Lightroom 4 by Adobe is a perfect example. I was able to bring out the details in both the highlights and shadows by using adjustment brushes and graduated filters where needed.
Spring Ahead
Happy spring everyone! A lot will be changing in the next few weeks and I can’t wait. Colorful flowers will be blooming; daylight will go deep into the evenings; and the cold weather will become a distant memory.
This blog will also be getting revived too. I still have a lot going on right now, so I will post when I can, but they should become more frequent.
Blooming Crocuses – Watertown, CT
Happy Birthday to my friend Liz! I promised her I’d have a post today when she didn’t accept my high-five as a good enough gift 🙂
Reflection
First of all, I’m sorry for not having any posts in a while. Life takes priority sometimes and this is one of those. I’ll get back to posting more regularly soon, but for now, I will when I can.
Reflection – Middlebury, CT
I had intended to wait till fall before posting this image, but after more than a week of personal reflection, I decided it’s just as relevant now as it would be then. For me anyway and it’s my blog, so I get final say 🙂
I have always liked this image a lot. The autumn colors flow really well together and the abstract composition kind of gives it a Monet quality. I have tried to take similar photos since this one, but none have that little extra something that I think this one does.
I hope to post again soon…
Signs
We see them every day. Some just don’t listen!
Gulls
I have heard them referred to as the rodents of the sky. I have probably reused the phrase a handful of times myself, but for the photographer just starting out, they can be the perfect subject.
For one, if you live or take trips near the water, they are always available for their close up. 
And if you can get to a fish pier, the numbers of seagulls are overwhelming when the boats come in with their catch of the day.
Sometimes they add a different perspective to a common scene. 
And they are always around to practice portrait work.
Gulls – Hubbard Park, Meriden, CT
This is a rare event for me and not one you should get used to, but I’m posting an image from a photo I took today. I needed to leave work early in order to be at an award ceremony for my oldest daughter. She is a very talented piano player and one of only two students from her school to receive this special award for the arts (OK, proud daddy moment done).
So traffic ended up being much better than I expected and I had a few extra minutes to head over to Hubbard park for an image to finish this post. I was actually looking for an image to be up above, but when I saw this one, I decided to make it the feature image. The light from the setting sun was perfect and it took less than 5 minutes to get some nice photos including this one. Happy with what I captured; I was off to the ceremony. I’m really happy with this image but it doesn’t come close to how happy and proud my big girl makes me as a dad. Congrats Cailin!
