Day 301 (27 Oct 2012) Fall Trees and a Stone Wall

Took a short walk this afternoon, under the cloudy sky, which provided nice texture to the sky.  I also noticed the moon out tonight before it got dark and thought it looked good 🙂  I’m not sure which version I prefer, so I posted both 🙂

This weekend I’ve been working my way through my photos from Spain, and I’m about halfway through; feel free to check out my Flickr Photostream Spain set, though it’s not complete yet.  I’ll repost the link once I’m done with them.  I don’t think I’ll make up the posts, but do one that has my best/favorite photos once I’m done.

Day 296 (22 Oct 2012) Tree and Moon

On Monday, which is one of my busiest days each week, I pulled my camera out for exactly one photo, of a tree near where I park my car at work.  There are several of these trees that are in a stage of partial-color change.  I think it’s beautiful!  I tried to frame the composition with the moon, as it was out that afternoon.

Day 294 (20 Oct 2012) Autumn Macro – Acorns and Tractors

I took a quick study break after lunch (yes, I’m spending most of this beautiful day inside studying for my courses 😦 ) to shoot.  I thought it would be cool to shoot some of the many acorns littering my yard before I mowed the lawn and chopped them, and the leaves, up.  I also wandered over to the backhoe in my yard that shows up in several of my images and took some macro images of it, too.

Now back to the books for me!

Empty Shell

Acorn

Acorn among leaves

Hiding Acorn

Backhoe Bucket

Tractor Treads

Day 293 (19 Oct 2012) Rainy Autumn Day

It’s been raining since before I awoke today.  So I shot a few images from my spare room’s window.  I shot a long exposer using a 4x ND filter so that I could catch the mist/rain better.  I softened them a tad and boosted the saturation a hair to bring out the colors.

Then I saw a video on Adorama TV and tried to replicate the idea.  It was pretty fun!  Try to guess what was held behind the screen 🙂

30 mm, 2 sec, f/22, ISO 100, 4x ND filter (Autumn Rain)

60 mm, 0.6 sec. f/5.0, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Rainy Screen)

60 mm, 0.6 sec. f/5.0, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Green Screen)

Day 292 (18 Oct 2012) Autumn Night

Tonight I tried to capture the autumn tree color at night in the the parking lot of my school.  It was not as easy as I thought it would be.  I can’t seem to get the color right (I didn’t think to use my grey card), but I do like the one w/ a black & white treatment, and the color of another did come out (there was a slight breeze, if you can’t tell by the leaves).

Anyway, have a great night and I’ll talk to you again tomorrow!

Day 290 (16 Oct 2012) Fall Colors

I really enjoy driving this time of year, even when I’m stuck in traffic it’s not as bad as the rest of the year.  Thought my driving is a tad bit more distracted.  What is causing me to enjoy traffic and be distracted?  It’s gazing at all the beautiful colors on the trees!  I know I posted some leaf photos yesterday, and on Saturday, but it’s just so beautiful here I can’t help but look and shoot!

These photos were taken from a parking lot of a local hardware store.  There were so many times I wanted to stop and shoot today, but the highway is not the safest place to stop.  Enjoy!

Day 289 (15 Oct 2012) Autumn Morning

This morning as I was leaving for work, I saw what is represented in the first two images from my drive way.  These are the days when I’m glad I live out in the country, many miles from the nearest big town or city.  It’s great having the relitive peace and quite (I can hear the occassional car or truck on the road near by), and the dark nights (pretty decent for night photography).  It’s hard to imagine living in a city or large town on days like this.  I included both images because I’m not sure which composition I like the best; each has elements that speak to me in how they are captured.

The other images were taken at Horse Pond in Salem, CT, on my way into town to teach a personal finance class called Financial Peace University.  Fall is my favorite time of year, and in New England, it’s even better because of the fall foliage.  I actually met an Irish couple during my flight back from Spain  (the Dublin – Boston leg) who fly to the US to be “leaf peepers” almost every year.  It’s great to live in such a beautiful area!!

For those of you who are near/in CT, I have planned a Fall Foliage hike at Sleeping Giant State park that is open to anyone who wants to join.  Of course there will be lots of photography, so leave a comment and I’ll give you details if you are interested!

Day 248 (5 Sep 2012) Falling

I’m not sure what the proper verb for the onset of the Fall season, but it’s onsetting!  Some of the leaves here are starting to turn.  Before long all the trees will be displaying beautiful hues of red, yellow, and orange; I can hardly wait!  Last year tropical storm Irene came near the Fall season and disrupted the natural seasonal change; in CT the leaves changed over almost completely within a 4 day period; most of which I was stuck out of town (due to the storm delaying my return flight).  This year I’m not going anywhere till late Sept, so I’m hoping to see the leaves in all their glory!

60 mm, 1/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Color of Fall)

60 mm, 1/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Change Is Coming)

Day 164 (12 June 2012) Rainy Day

I had this great plan to do a photo walk after work.  Next time I’ll check the weather before I plan, LOL.  But as the rain let up before it got too dark, I wasn’t too disappointed.  I’ve enjoyed the “challenge” of shooting rain drops.

I say “challenge” because it can be frustrating.  The slightest breeze or movement of the plant will ruing an image or I just have to sit and wait.  However, all I need is one good image, so I shoot several and hope that the movement is slow enough for the shutter speed or that I capture the movement at the apex, where it stalls momentarily.  I was using a tripod, which was necessary today, as it’s too dark to shoot hand-held.  I did use live view to get the focus just right (or just right until the subject moved! lol).  Anyway, I may have to invest in an inexpensive ring light/flash so I can use faster shutter speeds.

60 mm, 1/13 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Rain Drop On Leaf)

60 mm, 1/5 sec, f/5.0, ISO 100, 60mm macro lens (Drop on Buds)

60 mm, 1/5 sec, f/10, ISO 400, 60mm macro lens (Tiny Flowers)

Day 69 (9 March 2012) Let Your Light Shine Through

Today I took a quick break from work to shoot since I won’t have time tonight after work.  My intent was to shoot some lichen on a rock in my yard, but I wasn’t impressed with how they turned out.  I also shot some leaves silhouetted against the sun.  This shot, cropped and slightly de-saturated, is pretty neat, as you can see all the veins that fed this leaf when it was still living.

1/500, f/5.6, ISO 100, 18-55mm kit lens w/ 4x close-up filter (Silhoutte)

Day 26 (26 Jan 2012) Dead Tree

I have this tree in my house that should never have been left out during the first frost.  I’m pretty sure I killed it, but I haven’t had time to ‘dispose’ of it yet, so it’s still in my living room.  When I laid down on my couch and looked up, the entry-way light shining above the tree on the ceiling looked pretty neat.  I changed the white balance to make it a little more dramatic (the yellow-orange color you see).

With the weather being a bit dreary and it being dark by the time I get home, I’m feeling like there isn’t much to shoot, so if you would like to suggest a subject, please do!  I will try to fulfill your suggestion 🙂

50 mm, 1/2 sec, f/8.0, ISO 1000, EF 50mm f/1.8 II (Dead Tree)