This year has been one of seriously heavy rain here in New England. Luckily where I live we escaped serious flooding, but still our rivers, brooks and streams are very high. Good for one thing - waterfalls!! Recently I took a good friend of mine to see some near me and got some decent shots.... 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 →
So after the relatively bug-free California environment I get back up here and am basically in a cloud of mosquitoes every time I set foot out of the house. This time of year being a woodland photographer really sucks. Literally. Between the mosquitoes and the ticks I'm down a pint. No. Not really. But they... 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 →
Just a quick post of some more unusual shots I've taken lately. No, I haven't abandoned my hyper-literal, documentary style, but I had some fun and thought I'd share. It's sometimes VERY hard for me to see in abstract. My brain's not wired that way, but I sometimes go out of my head.
I can't help myself. I'm a nature and outdoors photographer. That means I shoot a lot of wildflowers. Yeah, it's a cliche, but sometimes they are just so lovely I can't pass them by. This year I'm trying to capture the quality of light as well as the flowers themselves and so far it's been... Continue Reading →
I have a love/hate relationship with spring. In the love category we have the fact that when a breeze hits your face it doesn't feel like it will freeze off. Also the twittery, fluttery birds all excited to be making more birds. Tree frogs. And the lovely green of the pale leaves as the trees... Continue Reading →
Often when I post photos of moving water looking all smooth, silky or smoky I get comments asking how I achieve that result. So I decided to write this post using my latest batch of images to illustrate things (and give you a couple of Lightroom tips in the bargain). Don't say I never gave... Continue Reading →
If you've been following this blog for a while, you probably noted my love of abandoned things and the woods. Well lately I've been able to combine them in a really excellent way - mill ruins! I went walking in some nature trails in Hampstead the other day and found three old mill sites in... Continue Reading →
Let the microscapes begin! Not the most beautiful or delicate of wildflowers, but one of the first to appear. I went wandering in one of the many nature preserves in Andover, Massachusetts the other day and one section of the swamp was covered with skunk cabbage. I read that they can come up so early... Continue Reading →
The nice thing about shooting my local area is that I can have do-overs. My friend and fellow photographer Jeff and I have had conversations about this and although I stress over choking on vacation shoots, I don't worry so much about local stuff. I'm not going to steal Jeff's thunder with this post since... 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 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 →
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 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 →
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 →
When the industrial revolution came to New England it came in the form of mills. Water-powered turbines sprang up on every river big enough to drive one and even on what now appear to be placid little brooks. I've always loved the architecture of large mill buildings. Having basically grown up in New England's largest... Continue Reading →
This idea has been rolling around in my head for some time. Months maybe, certainly weeks. I like the idea of it even though my back does not. Have you heard the term before? I think I must have picked it up somewhere since I'm not the type to go around coining phrases. It has... Continue Reading →
Let me count the ways - It's been truly wonderful this season. More to come.
While the season is by no means over, the peak color is draining rapidly. A storm came through yesterday that probably knocked a lot of leaves off the trees and so I was even more glad to have gotten out in the days before. Because of my health issue, my fall season was in jeopardy... Continue Reading →
The strenuous, but beautiful hike to Mts. Jackson and Webster in the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire.
Man v. Nature isn't always just a Jack London book report topic.
Falling water and ferny goodness.
Another forest, another beaver pond; more fun with reflections.
