One of the earliest lessons I learned in photography was to cultivate good field habits. That is to establish habits and routines that not only help you stay organized, but keep you from going crazy if you have a lot of gear. Accessories are the kiss of death sometimes and unless you have a way... Continue Reading →
You know that old saying, hindsight is 20/20? Some days it smacks me right in the head. The other day after a lovely few hours in the woods I thought to myself that I should have been a forester or something. Hubby comes back to say that it doesn't pay much. In money, no it... Continue Reading →
The next step along the monochrome brick road is manipulating images once you've converted them and done the basics like cropping, white balance and sharpening. Sometimes the color palette we're presented with isn't as dynamic in monochrome as we want it to be. I mean that the gray values of the colors aren't separated, they're... Continue Reading →
The tail end of winter still holds some beauty, I just had to look for it. These first two are details of a beaver pond in the woods that appeared to be new. These bushes were still alive, albeit dormant for the season. I loved the patterns the ice made while it was thawing. All... Continue Reading →
A while back I said I'd report on my progress from time to time. It's part of my attempt to be more aware of the state of my photography and where I want to take it. Now if I can only remember what they were. Oh right, here they are - 1. Improve composition; read... Continue Reading →
It pretty much always happens about now. Especially if we've had snow since December. At first it's magical and a joy to be out in, but after a while. After it snows a dozen times. After there's 3 feet of it with 5 foot drifts and 6 foot snowbanks. When it's too deep for snowshoes. ... Continue Reading →
I've always been intrigued by broken-down buildings on the side of the road. In New England they are everywhere. Little shacks. Barns. Garages. Unidentifiable buildings that make you wonder what they used to be and why they were hammered together in the first place. Mostly they're wooden, but occasionally metal and almost always difficult to... Continue Reading →
Ah! You've found me out. I'm a Clutch fan. And when I found these tiny, wind-up robots in the basement their most excellent song popped into my head. Aren't these the best? Rescued from a box of junk, my husband set them aside so they wouldn't get tossed. He thinks he got them in high... Continue Reading →
Yeah, I know I just wrote a whole big post about black and white photography and how awesome it is, but now I'm starting to crave color. It's the precursor to spring fever. Happens every year. I try not to let it get to me, but some days I just feel like these leaves -... Continue Reading →
I've been doing a little winter hiking and snowshoeing lately so thought I'd share some shots. The forest is an amazing place to me in any season, but in winter it seems to be draped in finery. This first one I shot today while out in the afternoon. Those shadows are hard to beat. The... Continue Reading →
Today had it! I love this light. Clouds obscuring the sun, but not completely. Just enough coming through to bring up texture and slight shadows. I love this brook. I go to shoot the falls, but so far no success. The brook however, I manage to get. Shot with the E-30, ZD 12-60mm and... Continue Reading →
A while back something happened to my primary hard drive that nearly gave me a heart attack. Suddenly, with no explanation I could find, my drive was no longer seen by the operating system. OMFG! Years worth of raw files, gone. Panic-stricken I researched data recovery services and found prices ranging from $800 to $1800.... Continue Reading →
How are a landscape photographer and a vampire alike? Neither goes outside at noon. Seriously, it makes you wonder doesn’t it? Blood-sucking fiend and Fun-sucking fiend, both taking the joy right out of life. I recently stopped following a landscape photographer’s blog because he just kept going on and on about only shooting at the... Continue Reading →
I'm a little dizzy from the time on the front page. Wow. Thanks to the folks at WordPress for the honor. I had no idea and came back from an afternoon away from the computer to a ton of views and comments. Thanks to everyone who had something kind to say about my work. It's... Continue Reading →
Before I take on writing a Black and White Photography 201, I'm going to share some more junk drawer photos. Well, this first one isn't from a drawer, but a forgotten cabinet over the fridge. In a clean-out binge I found a bunch of weird booze we stuck there for some reason. Pepper flavored vodka. ... Continue Reading →
The other day someone asked what made a good black and white photograph. He went on to say that he only uses black and white processing when he’s trying to achieve an old photo look, but noticed when someone converted one of his color images to black and white it looked better because the distracting... Continue Reading →
Frustrated by my inability to see outside in nature lately, I've turned my attention to the Junk Drawer in hopes of finding some worthy subjects. Dredged up this old transistor radio that was my husband's when he was a kid. It still works! These first three were shot with the Olympus 90mm f2 macro... Continue Reading →
From time to time I go meet up with a few other local photographers. We are all part of the same flickr group and it's pretty much the same core of people who go to them. We usually try for a sunrise. Winter shooting seems far more popular. Probably because sunrise is at 7am instead... Continue Reading →
Well not really, but on a photography board someone asked if aliens stole your gear (all of it) and somehow digital photography was rendered out of existence or banned or whatever (no cell phone cameras either), would you shoot film or would you give up photography? If you decided to shoot film, would you go... Continue Reading →
I can't help it. Discouraged and in my weird place I still had the urge to go out after a storm and take pictures of my front garden. The process itself made me happy and that hasn't changed. I basically just walked the driveway and the shoveled path and used the legacy OM... Continue Reading →
Lately I've been twisting in the wind over my photography. All aspects of it. Why do I do it? What good does it do? Is it good? Is it mediocre? Is it bad? Do I have a style? Am I a cliche? Should I try to market my images? Who would buy them anyway? Everyone... Continue Reading →
Part of the joy of shooting in the winter in New England is dealing with the cold. Mostly it's just a matter of the right clothing, but a photographer lives and dies by her eyes and her hands and it's the hands that suffer most. I think I need to get some of those pocket... Continue Reading →
My husband is a runner and goes to races in the area. Sometimes I go with him if there's something interesting to photograph in the vicinity. On New Year's Day he went to Salisbury Massachusetts and so I went to walk the Old Eastern Marsh Trail that runs about a mile and a quarter. I... Continue Reading →
For 2010 I had a few specific goals in mind for my photography. Here they are - 1. Be more methodical and deliberate; be a more thoughtful photographer 2. Organize digital files better 3. Purge digital files 1 - partial win. I did envision specific photographs ahead of time and go into the field to... Continue Reading →
Well 2010 is on its way out. I can hardly believe I had such a successful photography year and I can only wonder what the next one will bring. Thanks to everyone who stopped by, commented or even subscribed to this blog. Here's the latest batch of photos and probably the last of the year. ... Continue Reading →
