This is another panoramic photo I made during my morning at Scott’s Run Nature Preserve, Virginia. This image was taken from virtually the same location as my previous panoramic image. This time, however, I zoomed in to focus on the tree trunks.
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I photographed these clouds several days ago during sunset. Overall, I like the cotton candy look and light tones of the image. I also like the simplicity and abstract appeal. However, I do wonder how others will view it. I’ll be looking forward to some comments!
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This is another image from my trip yesterday morning to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve, Virginia. The forest there is among the prettiest hardwood forests I’ve ever seen. This image encompasses about a 200 degree field of view, and was taken from the top of a hill overlooking the forest. To view the photograph at a larger size, click the image and you will be linked to the enlarged version.
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I decided to head out to Scott’s Run Nature Preserve this morning to try and put some of my new panoramic skills to work. I did manage to get several nice panoramic photographs that I really like, but overall this image may be my favorite. While this photo is the same 2:3 ratio as a normal 35mm image, it is in fact a compilation of 12 images. Zooming in on smaller sections of the tree, I took a series of photos, 4 wide by 3 tall, and then stitched them all together. Using this technique, I am able to crop to the familiar 2:3 ratio while gaining a ton of detail by using information from all 12 images. Making test prints, this photograph can be printed up to 50 inches wide with more detail than typical 16×24 inch prints!
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After reading an article about using the “Photomerge” function in Photoshop, I decided to give it a try myself yesterday. Photomerge basically imports multiple images and then stitches them together to make a single, highly detailed photograph. Using this function, I can take multiple images in a row with the intention of combining them to make a panoramic photo. Before yesterday, panoramic images seemed complicated and out of reach, but with this newfound ability I can see my entire way of thinking compositionally changing when out in the field. I’m very excited, to say the least! The following (set of) image(s) was/were 
taken when I visited the island of Oahu, Hawaii last winter in a dense rainforest. I feel that the panoramic format really captures the lush, dense, complicated feeling of the rainforests there that a single image could not capture as well.
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My plea to the cloud/snow gods seems to have worked! At about 7PM last night all clouds in the sky whipped away, leaving a perfectly clear sky behind. After discovering this surprise, I decided to head out to a portion of Manassas Battlefield National Park, Virginia to try and photograph the eclipse. I had photographed one eclipse before in my early days of photography, and my results were, uh, not the best. Before last night, I had just attributed my bad results to my inexperience. It turns out there may have been more to the story as the moon moves very quickly through the sky, is very dark during total eclipse, and is hard to focus on! Despite this, I got a few images that I like - and at least they are technically well done, which I can’t say for my previous eclipse photographs. In the following image, I used my 300mm telephoto lens and incorporated these 2 bright stars near the moon. I feel it gives a more unique composition than if I had just placed the moon right in the middle of the image.
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I haven’t been able to get out and take any new photographs this past week, partly due to lack of free time but mostly due to not having enough money to fill my tank and ram the roads (anyone want to buy some prints?). Anyways, this image is for the cloud/snow gods. With my offering, I hope they will stay away and not block my view of the lunar eclipse at 10PM EST tonight. We’re pretty socked in with clouds right now, but it’s worth a try, right? Maybe? Oh well.
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This is another image from my second story window shoot of the clouds yesterday morning. At this point, the pink color had faded and rays of bright light were coming through holes in the clouds, lighting up the bases and providing a lot of interesting depth for photographs.
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Rolling out of bed about a half an hour before sunrise this morning I went through my morning ritual of looking out the window to check out the weather and clouds. This morning, it seemed completely overcast. However, after about ten minutes I looked outside again and was surprised by a pink glow beginning to form on the undersides of the clouds. The colors began to intensify as time went on, and I sat there just enjoying the view. Soon enough, however, I decided that I should make the most of the opportunity and take some abstract cloud photographs. Hanging out of my second story window with my camera in hand, I came away with this image. I think it would be well fitted to a July 4th posting, as the clouds fade from red and white to blue as you move up the image.
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I packed up my gear and headed out to Great Falls National Park, Maryland. A dense layer of clouds hung overhead with just a sliver of open sky at the horizon. While it was a slim chance, the makings of an amazing light show were a definite possibility. Upon arrival, I scrambled down the rock faces to get closer to the water. With an hour to kill before any possibility of color in the sky, I passed the time scouting compositions and watching white-water kayakers plunge down 30 ft waterfalls. With the sliver of open sky still near the horizon, I counted down the minutes until sunset in slow motion. Finally, the time arrived. The sun dipped below the layer of clouds and the entire sky was set on fire. As the sun continued to lower, the shades turned from banana yellow, to orange, fire truck red, hot magenta, and cotton candy pink. It was truly the most impressive display of light I’ve had the opportunity to photograph. This particular image was taken near the end of the color where cooler magentas, purples, and blues dominated. I really liked this little pool of “ooze” and used it as a foreground. The photograph reminds me of the beginning of life on earth … primordial organisms emerge from a pool of sludge to be greeted by a prehistoric sky. “The Dawn of Time”
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Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone out there! I hope it was a good one.
I took this photograph the same evening as my post about the ferns of Shenandoah National Park. As sunset approached, the sky looked furious with many layers of clouds all whipping by at various speeds. With a bit of luck, the sun broke through for a couple of minutes and lit up certain clouds. I ran outside with my wide-angle lens and managed to get a few before the light subsided for the night. In this image, I like the color and the way the clouds are balanced compositionally.
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This is another photograph from the same sunrise as my previous post, taken a few minutes later. In this image, I paid careful attention to the sky and actually found a foreground that mirrored the same general pattern of the clouds. I prefer the composition of this image compared to the last, but overall I’m not sure which is my favorite. I really just dig that circle in the foreground of the previous image! Please feel free to let me know which you prefer, and why.
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Sorry for the lack of posts these past 3 days - I went up to New Jersey this weekend to visit my girlfriend. I did attempt to get some new images of Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers at a location near her called the pole farm, but had no luck to speak of. The Short-eared Owls were still amazing, and just watching them was a real treat. For some new content today, I dug yet again into some old folders from my winter trip to Upstate New York and decided to process this image. Overall, I really like the color of the sky and the shapes in the foreground, I just wish there were some more clouds in the upper left portion. In retrospect, I should have taken a couple of steps to the left so that the dark clouds lined up in the middle of the frame. Always keep an eye out on the sky … it should be considered a crucial element of any composition.
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I’ve been going through even more old folders of images and came across this image taken along Dark Hollow Run in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Dark Hollow Run is perhaps my favorite stream in all of Shenandoah National Park. There are countless small drops and waterfalls as the stream makes its course downhill. A classic scenic mountain stream!
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With the unseasonably warm temperatures and thunderstorms rolling in today, I’ve got a bit of “Summer Fever”! So, I’ve been going through some older images from last summer and found this unprocessed gem taken in the forests of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. This was one of the most dense areas of ferns I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing.
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After finally feeling pretty much okay from that stomach bug, I am now running a fever from what I assume is something else. This is getting old! I’ll be going to the doctors tomorrow. Anyways, this is an image I took in Upstate New York on the frozen waters of Oneida Lake. I’ve always hoped to find a half-encased leaf such as this one, so when I did I was pretty excited. One difficult thing about this image that may not be noticeable in the small web-sized version is that some of the corners go slightly out of focus. I had always assumed ice that formed in still water was perfectly flat, but that is not always the case. When zooming in tight to photograph details of ice, remember to stop down to get enough depth of field or you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when you review your images later at home.
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Since I haven’t had the desire to get out and take any new pictures while feeling ill this last week, I’m going to backtrack a bit to my trip to New York. This photo was taken mid-December after a nor’easter dropped about a foot of snow on Upstate New York. After hiking about a mile back into the woods from my grandparent’s house, I found this beautiful grove of Hemlock Trees. I though the coat of fresh snow really added a lot to the scene.
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Not the most inspired post today, but nevertheless, I’ve been feeling quite a bit better and have been looking through some folders of images taken over the last couple of weeks. I thought the following photograph was an interesting cloud abstract. This image was taken at Great Falls National Park, Virginia the morning before a rainstorm, just as the clouds were starting to filter in. What I like about this photo are the leading lines of the clouds entering at the bottom and the intense blue at the top.
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Hey everyone,
I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I’ve been sick with an absolutely horrible stomach bug … and I must say, getting on the computer to write just doesn’t have the same appeal when you’re feeling that way. I hope to be making some more posts in the next couple days … and now I’m off to lay down.