LEAFLESS WATERFALL

I recently received a set of ND filters that included 2-stop, 3-stop, and 4-stop filters.  I have been dying to give these a try.  One subject I wanted to use these filters on is waterfalls.  I have seen so many images from others of those beautiful silky waterfalls.  I wanted some of my own.  Unfortunately, I don’t live close to big waterfalls.  So I went to my local park and found this guy.  He is more like a waterdropoff than a waterfall, but he would have to do.

Of course going to the park at 3:00 in the afternoon wasn’t ideal because it was about as bright as could be.  So I drop my camera down to f/22 and ISO200.  I put on the 2-stop filter.  I take a test shot and see that even with the filter I was still yielding a shutter speed of about 1/8^th of a second.  Well that wasn’t even gonna come close to getting that silky look.  So I stacked the other two filters on and with all 3 filters I was able to get down to a 1.5 second exposure.

I wasn’t too thrilled with the 1.5 second exposure image.  So I then decided to bracket 3 shots for an HDR.  After processing those through Photomatix, the image above is the result

Maybe some of you out there can help.  When using multiple ND filters, is there a proper order you should stack them?

 

ANGELIC FORREST

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I noticed this scene while eating lunch one day.  Although on that day, there was no snow on the ground.  I thought to myself that this would look really nice as a winter snow scene.

Well, 6 snow storms later I finally made it back to this location to capture it as visioned in my head.  The color version of this image looks great, but converting it to black and white really gives it something special.  The sun overlooks the scene like an angel.  The only thing I am not crazy about is the size of the sun.  It’s a little big for me.  I would have loved for the sun to be behind me here and out of the scene, but geographically it is not possible.  Overall though, I really like the image.

THE EARTH ROOM

This past weekend we had my daughter’s christening.  The room we used at the sanctuary was called “THE EARTH ROOM”.  Initially for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why it was called that.  I mean it looked like a normal room to me.  Then I looked up, Ah HA!!!

The work on the stained glass was beautiful.  Unfortunately I was not able to get more images of  it.  As you could imagine it was quite a busy day for me.  I was lucky to grab just enough time to bracket a few shots before things got hectic.

Enjoy!

Nikon D5000, 18-105mm at 18mm, f/8, 1/60, ISO800 – HDR from 3 exposures (+2ev, 0ev, -2ev)

SNOWFIELD SUNRISE

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If you haven’t heard by now, we were hit by a wicked blizzard in New Jersey last weekend.  It wasn’t one of those yummy blizzards from Dairy Queen.  We got hit with 30+ inches of snow.  Luckily I was visiting family and able to stay the extra night and drive home the next day.

When I did arrive home I wanted to get out and shoot the snow.  Well one thing lead to another and I didn’t make it out until New Year’s eve morning.  I was excited though, as it was the final sunrise of 2010.

I headed back out to my local park.  It seems that it is becoming my go to place for landscape work.  Upon my arrival I managed to walk out onto the golf course that borders the park.  I was hoping that would lead me to some untouched snow.  Surprisingly, finding untouched snow was harder than I thought.  It seems that deer, ducks, and other critters seem to wander all over the course disturbing the snow.  I finally settled in a location that yielded nice looking snow and began shooting away.

Another surprise to me was the lack of clouds.  The entire time roaming the park, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  It wasn’t until I settled down in my location that the clouds began to roll in.  All part of the luck you get when shooting landscapes.

I bracketed a bunch of images over a 30 minute period.  The image above yielded the best cloud/color combination.  I’m on the fence with the result.  I don’t love it, but i definitely don’t hate it either.  What do you think?

Tech Stuff:  D5000, 18-105mm lens, f11, ISO200, 1/250 sec, (+2ev, 0ev, -2ev)

TRIANGLE CLOCK TOWER

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Yeah, this is more like the BERMUDA TRIANGLE CLOCK TOWER!  The times are not close to being the same.  For those of you wondering, yes there are two more clocks on the other side of this tower and yes they too display different times.

I’m pretty sure that one of the clocks doesn’t move at all.  Reminds me of the clock tower from Back To The Future and those old ladies passing out the flyers that were saying, “Save the clock tower!”  I say the same thing when driving by this guy.   Even if the one clock can’t be fixed at this time, can you at least correct the other 3 so they display the correct time?

From the moment I moved to Hillsborough, I wanted to photograph this clock tower.  I’m glad I finally got the chance to.  As a bonus, not too far behind it is a WAWA.  So I was able to grab a sub and a drink to take home.  For those of you that live nowhere near New Jersey, WAWA is an awesome convenience store.

Enjoy!

HEAVENLY HUT

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I explored a new park the other day.  I had noticed the park many months ago, but only got the chance to check it out the other day.  Sadly, it was kind of lame.  It felt more like a commuter park-and-ride than a park.  There really wasn’t much to do there.  It was bordered by a small river and there was a path to walk along that river.  There we no swings or playgrounds for the kids.  However, there were plenty of BBQ setups.  Including the one in the image above.  I guess I got my hopes up and expected too much.

I really like the image though.  The gazebo looks cool surrounded by the trees and overlooked by the clouds.  The sun had just begun to peak through the clouds.  I tried to process some images with the sun shining brighter but the lens flare was just to ugly.  It’s hardly visible in the above image.  I like that.

I’m disappointed with the park, but at least I got a nice image out of it.  The trip wasn’t a complete waste

MIRROR-LAKE SUNRISE

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There are so many things I like about this image.

• The water is motionless.
• There is still a little Autumn color left on the trees.
• The sun is just starting to break through.
• There are actually clouds in the sky to reflect some of the sun’s color.

I could say more but I won’t.

Enjoy!

FIRE WATER

I love the calm and quiet of a cold morning.  It’s as if you’re one with nature.  You can enjoy a few birds chirping.  More so, when its nice and cold, the water is SO still!  There is just a great feeling when you are up and doing stuff before most people are even awake.

Anyway, I give you FIRE WATER!  I love the colors in this image.  You have a small window of time to capture those colors.  Combine that with the fact that the clouds were nice enough to stay around for while and you’ve got yourself a nice image.

Enjoy!

STONE BRIDGE II

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Here we go again.  Last week I posted an image of the STONE BRIDGE.  I received some nice feedback regarding the composition and colors of the image.  I myself really like the image.  While at that location I took some more images of the same bridge from a different vantage point.  Now I am a bit torn.  I really like the first image.  However, this second image is pretty nice itself.  I feel that this vantage point gives a better view of the reflection in the water as well as more detail in the bridge. My first instinct is to try and decide which image is better.  Well, the great thing about photography is that one image doesn’t have to be better than another.  One can like them both the same.

Of course if YOU like one over the other, please feel free to leave comments below.  I always appreciate constructive feedback.

AUTUMN SUNSHINE

I had a day off yesterday.  Why is this a big deal?  Well, for the first time in a while it was a day all to myself.  No “watch the baby”, “run these errands”, “get the car fixed”, or “clean the house”.  Nope, Nope, Nope!  Yesterday was a complete “me” day.  The first thing I did with my day was……SLEEP!  Yep, I slept for a couple hours and it was great!

Eventually, I got on with my day.  I grabbed my camera and tripod, and seeked out some Autumn wilderness.  I came across a one-lane bridge and decided that would be my subject for the day.  I spent a good hour taking images of that bridge.  Afterward, I decided to pack it up an call it a day.

On my way back to the car I was blinded by the sun shining through the trees.  When I turned and looked up, I said “this was gonna make a great image.”  I set the camera up and bracketed a few shots.  The result is the image above.

I stopped down to f22 to get a nice starburst.  I wasn’t disappointed either.  I do wish the core of the starburst was a little smaller.  It seems to draw your eye immediately and take some of the focus away from the remainder of the image.  Other than that, I like it a lot.  It also makes me feel like I actually did something with my “me” day

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