The Piscataquog is my favorite river. I know, weird, huh? It's an important waterway not only for people, but for many animals and plants that thrive in the ancient glacial habitats along its course. It has 3 branches (north, middle and south), runs for 57 miles with little interruption and its name translates from a... Continue Reading →
From this morning. I couldn't resist the patterns or the light.
Fall is one of the most productive...well, if I can call it that, times for me as a photographer. There are so many things that catch my eye and the season is so volatile that there is a surprise almost every day. Here's a few of my favorite catches. Early in October things are still... Continue Reading →
Up until recently, I've been a catch-as-catch-can type of photographer. If I was going somewhere, I took my camera and tried for photos as I went. Rarely did I return to a location to do better or capture a different aspect of the place. Now though, I understand what scouting a location can do. Remember... Continue Reading →
Late last year I visited a nearby Nature Conservancy property called The Cedar Swamp Preserve. Yeah, real romantic sounding place, right? Well it's got two great things going for it - Atlantic White Cedars and Great Laurel or Giant Rhododendron as it's sometimes called. This is a small preserve jammed between huge condo developments, some... Continue Reading →
The weather and the hordes of mosquitoes have kept me from doing a lot of shooting, but I have been out. The thing is that the shots don't really seem to go together. Then I had a morbid thought about some of them. Poison mushrooms and grave stones. Heh. It's ridiculously me and goes with... Continue Reading →
An online photographer friend said that he doesn't do much black and white landscape work because he feels he needs the color to be there because it was there. I agree with him up to a point. No, I'm no Ansel Adams, but I do like how a black and white photograph can work when... Continue Reading →
Been working on my microscapes this year. Experimenting with light mostly. Including dappled sunlight, trying for some drama and separation. That's what the sunlight does in the woods, it highlights certain things and shadows others. It's some of what makes the woods magical, at least to me. Here's one of a medium-sized painted turtle I... 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
If you've been reading this blog or following my flickr or Smugmug feeds you'll have noticed my penchant for abandoned places (and my love for heavy metal - spot the references if you can). Especially between seasons if you know what I mean. Sure, you can shoot derelict stuff anytime, but after the leaves fall... Continue Reading →
After some weeks of relative sameness, the plants are beginning a new phase - the die back. I love the contrast between the still verdant leaves and the dying leaves. The textures are still terrific. And of course I couldn't resist a monochrome conversion. The shapes and light variation in the early morning is perfect... Continue Reading →
