Photos

...now browsing by category

Posts relating to photo sessions, updated photos posted to web site, etc.

Fall Colors – Brown Deer Park

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Brown Deer Boat House

The fall colors have come and gone, with colder weather starting to move in. Today’s pictures were taken several weeks ago, just as the trees were turning different shades of red and yellow.

This is a picture of the boat house (seen in the distance) at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The boat house is located on a pond, and in the early morning light, the pond is still and the scene is saturated with warm sun light.

On this particular morning, it was just warming up from an overnight frost.

Frosted Leaf

This leaf had fallen from its tree, and what attracted my attention was the frost around its edge. The blades of grass also display the overnight frost.

The colors of the leaf make a nice contrast against the deeper green of the grass. Ideally, this should be shot with a tripod, since there’s a lot of magnification and the early morning light restricts how much light hits the camera’s sensor. This picture was taken with a image stabilizing lens so I was able to get away without a tripod. The picture was taken for 1/40 second at f/6.3 (ISO 200) with a 300 mm focal length.

Fall Goose

Finally, there was also wildlife in the park enjoying the morning sun. This is one of the many geese that inhabit the park.

The goose is framed against the saturated hues of the reflection of fall colors in the waters of the pond. The light ripples in the water give the picture the feel of a watercolor painting.

While the fall colors have disappeared with the leaves on the trees, the changing seasons provide lots of opportunities for the many divergent views of nature.

Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Posted in Photos | 4 Responses »
Tags: autumn, boat house, Brown Deer Park, fall, fall colors, goose, pond, trees

Picture of the Month – September 2009

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Click here to enlarge

My picture of the month for September 2009 is this brightly colored photo of a set of concrete steps painted to look like M&M candies as you approach them.

The steps lead the way to the Superman ride at Six Flags St. Louis – previously known as Six Flags over Mid-America. This theme park is the third one built under the Six Flags name, and parts of the park show its age. There are newer sections, however, that rival any of the more recently built theme parks.

The shadows on the steps help add to the 3D illusion of the M&M candy – which when viewed at the right angle appear to be a whole, uninterrupted mural celebrating this common candy.

To see pictures of the month from previous months, click here.

Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Posted in Photos | No Responses »
Tags: candy, M&M, Six Flags, St. Louis, steps

Picture of the Month – August 2009

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

Hillsboro Lighthouse

My picture of the month for August is from a series of early morning photos I took at Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach, Florida.

The clouds were benign, although they look quite threatening in the dawn light. They help set the mood for the scene and create interest – indeed, the picture would lack feeling with an empty sky.

The lighthouse also has just a touch of the rising sunlight on its left edge – adding some warmth to an otherwise stark, black lighthouse.

To see pictures of the month from previous months, click here.

Rating: 5.0/5 (2 votes cast)

Posted in Photos | No Responses »
Tags: Atlantic Ocean, dawn, Hillsboro Inlet, Hillsboro Lighthouse, lighthouse, picture of the month, sunrise

Flakeout Festival

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

Snow Serpent

Today’s post is a change of pace. While not trying to rush the season, I thought I’d go back to earlier this year and share some snow sculpting photos.

The occassion was the 2009 Flakeout Festival, held every year in the Wisconsin Dells.

The harsh sunlight, long shadows, and cold tempertures formed the primary challenges on a crisp February day. This sculpture was of a serpent – the detail on the face and mouth is amazing – and the snow sculptors worked all day Saturday and part of Sunday to get it right.

Snow in and of itself can be a tricky subject to photograph. The bright white surface often fools the camera’s automatic sensors, which don’t quite know what to do with the preponderance of white – and often photos turn out grayish and without definition.

WALL-E

If your camera allows you to adjust the white balance setting, this is the time to use that feature. Some cameras will have a setting for snow, or will allow you to set a custom white balance.

Setting a custom white balance is the best way to go – but prior preparation is key, since this involves photography a known neutral source in the target light and then telling the camera to use that photograph for setting the white balance on subsequent photographs.

Much more common is changing the white balance in your post processing software, but you must shoot in RAW (the photograph, not you) for this to work. Setting the proper white balance will give you back the crisp whites you saw when you took the picture.

Hope this cooled you off on a warm summer evening – enjoy the rest of the summer before it gets away from you!

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Posted in Events, Photos | 1 Response »
Tags: Flakeout Festival, sculptor, sculpture, snow, snow sculpture, snow serpent, WALL-E, Wisconsin Dells

August A. Busch Conservation Nature Center

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Watery Reflections

The August A. Busch Conservation Nature Center is located just a short drive from Lake Saint Louis in St. Charles, Missouri. The nature center is home to many lakes, wetlands, trees, wildflowers, and wildlife – barely removed from an urban setting.

I chose for this post to show a couple of photos that were not what I went looking for when I first visited the nature center.

This first reminds me of a somewhat abstract water painting – the water in the lake was disturbed by light winds, and the reflections of the trees in the water seem to shake and shimmer. This feeling is enhanced by not including the trees themselves in the picture, leaving only the reflection.

Fish in a Pond

This next picture is also different in nature from my standard landscape-type photograph.

As I was standing next to the water’s edge, I noticed these small fish swimming through the rocks in the bottom of the pond. The water was very clear, so I was able to capture the fish in their natural habitat.

Taken in mid-afternoon, there was plenty of light, so I didn’t need a tripod or a slow shutter speed. This photo was taken at f/11 for 1/100 second (ISO 200), using my Tamron 28-300 mm lens fully extended.

I expect to visit the nature center often over the next few months, watching it change from summer to fall to winter. And as I do, I’ll share the pictures here.