Category Archives: Seascape

Nauset Sunrise

I know I know… I haven’t posted in forever.  These cold winter days make me wish for days like this!  One of my favorite places in the world!  Nauset Beach in Cape Cod!!

Mill Creek

I love Cape Cod! If you’ve seen my other posts, that is clear. There is something about the ocean that always makes things feel better. I’m heading there to visit my parents tomorrow and couldn’t be in more need of that salt water therapy. Everything seems to be more difficult lately and I’m hopeful for a few days of nothing but R&R!

Mill Creek, Yarmouth Port, MA

One drive that I take frequently when I’m in the Cape is in Yarmouth Port. It starts down Keveney Ln and winds down a narrow road with beautiful houses that eventually lead to a bridge overlooking Mill Creek. The bridge is a good stopping point to photograph and I have many good images from there, but if you continue onward to Mill Ln, Water St, and then to Wharf Ln., you will will be rewarded with even more amazing views of the waterway. This is just one of the many photos I have from that area but always one of my favorites. It’s very simple, but has that relaxing quality to it that always de-stresses me. I’m sure I’ll visit the area again this weekend, along with a few other spots I know of that will have the same effect. Hopefully I will have some good images to share in the weeks to come. Blog750_58_20100808-0216-Edit

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:

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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.

Bass Hole Boardwalk

 

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!Cape Cod Vacation 2013 - Whale Watch

 

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!

Gray's Beach Before Sunrise

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. Blog750_37b_20101001-0130-2

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. Blog750_37c_CapeCod_055-Edit

Sometimes they add a different perspective to a common scene. Blog750_37d_20101001-0148-2-Edit

And they are always around to practice portrait work.Blog750_37e_20101001-0175-2-Edit

 

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!

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Sunset On The Bay

Every once in a while, someone will ask me why I don’t go into photography full time.  My answer is usually something short about how I like where I work and what I do.  That is true, but it leaves out how much I love the people I work with.  Sure, we have a few knuckleheads in the mix as my friend and coworker Adam would call them, but what family doesn’t?  And yes, we are a family; which makes today an especially difficult one for us.  We lost a brother; a father; and a friend, and we are left to be there for each other and try to make sense of the senseless.

 

Sunset On The Bay – Cape Cod

How can anyone give up the chance to see another one of these?

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RIP BD

 

Corporation Beach Sunset

39 years ago today I entered this world and for that, I am taking a day off from writing.

Hope you enjoy this photo from Corporation Beach in Dennis, MA.  Always a great spot for sunsets!

Corporation Beech Sunset

Sesuit Harbor

Who to Follow – Scott Kelby

If you work in Photoshop at all, chances are that you already know who Scott Kelby is. I think of him first as the president of NAPP, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, but lately he has been blowing me away with his photos of NFL football games. The reason I thought to highlight him this week was from seeing his photos of the NFC championship game this past Sunday. On Facebook, he posted the results from 4 simultaneous photos of Falcon’s Cornerback Asante Samuel as he came out of the tunnel. They all look really cool, but what I like even more is that he explains, with photos, how he set it all up. He’s always teaching and if you have an itch to learn photography, Photoshop, Lightroom, or any other Adobe Creative Suite product, Scott should be on your list to follow. His main website/blog is scottkelby.com and if you are truly serious about Photoshop, visit NAPP today.

 

Sesuit Harbor, East Dennis, MA

When the weather didn’t cooperate for an ocean side sunrise, I headed back towards the bay to photograph the Sesuit Harbor.  I stayed around the boats for a while, getting in close and capturing different crews as they headed out for the day and then the sun started to break through the clouds.  I walked a few hundred feet north and found this beautiful site before me. I took 10 to 15 photos of the scene and a few more of an old dune fence before heading back to the family.  It was another fine start to the day!

Sesuit Harbor

 

Tomorrow: Setting the mood for the weekend.

 

Nubble in Black and White

Black and White Photography

I’m not sure exactly why, but my favorite images tend to be black and white. It’s probably because I shot mostly without color when I was just starting out. Well, I really started with those throw away cameras with the film preloaded, then quickly onto a point-n-shoot where I learned I needed more control of what I was doing. So I purchased my first SLR and signed up for an intro photography course that was all about developing black and white film and making prints from the negative.

I really got into the course and loved using the various developing techniques we were being taught. I read everything I could find on photography and developing and I loved thumbing through old photo books trying to figure out what the photographers did to produce those images (see note below). Since I was already working in black and white, I gravitated to the same when I was looking at images from others. I read most, if not all, of Ansel Adams books and like most people, fell in love with his images. I also liked learning the history of photography to see how we got to where we are. There weren’t too many color images in any of those books either so, I guess you can say I was brainwashed into liking black and white photography, but I embraced it and am not complaining at all.

 

Nubble in Black and White

After my friends and I left the lighthouse, we went to eat at a great seafood restaurant down the road. When we were ready to burst from all the fantastic food, we left and headed to my buddy’s place to relax for the night . We all sat around drinking adult beverages and chatting until someone suggested we play the board game Risk. I had never played or don’t remember playing as a kid, but it didn’t take long to learn and the competition in it made for some fun moments. As competitive as all four of us were however, meant that nobody was willing to give in and the game went late into the night as did the consuming of beverages.

Luckily, because of those late drinks, the fact that I never set my alarm didn’t cost me an early morning trip back to Nubble. Nature’s alarm clock woke me right around sunrise and after screwing my head back on, I jumped in the car and rushed over to the lighthouse. There were still lingering effects from the previous days’s storm, but the sun did come out a little. I took photos for about an hour before my headache brought me back to the house instead of my planned trip north to Kennebunkport. That would have to wait for another time.

I went back and napped for a few hours before I had to head home. After saying my goodbyes, I decided, even though it was noontime and probably not the best light, to stop at Nubble one last time. Because of the increased light and therefore contrast, I thought a black and white image would look best. I bracketed to make sure I captured the full range of light giving many options in edit later on. A few more clicks of the shutter and I was on my way home.

Nubble in Black and White

 

Tomorrow, providing the cold I’m fighting doesn’t take me down for the count, I’ll be posting a wild scene of ducks.

 

Note: Studying Images: Studying various images is a great way to learn. Look all around the images you like. See where the light is coming from. See what they let go all black or blown out white. How much detail was left in the shadows or how much grain there is. After that, ask yourself what you would have done different if you were the photographer (Just don’t tell them unless they ask! Most people don’t take that very well).