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Italy - Air Force AgustaWestland HH-139A (AW-139M) MM81824 15-52 at Malta International Airport on Apron 7 (6-12-2019) 🚁📷
The weather here in Los Angeles now feels a lot like autumn back in DC...it just doesn't look like it. It's currently in the upper 40's and breezy thanks to the Santa Ana winds and while there's been some gloominess and rain, there are no colorful falling leaves anywhere.
I will get back to sunsets and reflections tomorrow but I wanted to post an autumn shot I took last November back in Maryland when the dog and I were out on a road trip to Pennsylvania. I remember this day pretty vividly actually, even a year later. I must have passed over this bridge in Rocky Ridge, Maryland dozens of times over the previous 6 months on my way out to explore with the camera and dog and for whatever reason, decided to stop this time and finally see what the view looked like into the water below. I had found what became my favorite waterfall only a few days earlier and now I was focused mostly on finding other sources of water for daytime long exposures with the neutral density filters. We were actually headed there after this but i pulled off the road and took a handful of low perspective shots while Scotch nervously looked on. He hates bridges and probably wasn't fond of me sitting in the middle of one with my camera and tripod.
My abilities and understanding of photography have improved greatly over the last year which is what I hoped would happen moving across the country. Part of it is the natural progression from learning through trial and error but I've also studied a lot of techniques and put in a ton of practice. What frustrates me most is when I take a shot I really love and have zero clue how to properly edit it. I try over and over and then give up, thinking I'll come back to it later when my editing skills improve more. Learning lightroom and photoshop from scratch is like learning a foreign language from scratch. Often, what looked great to me a year ago is now basically unacceptable and I often find myself rummaging through some of my old favorites and trying to edit them with a fresh set of eyes and new abilities.
At the time I shot this, I didn't have lightroom or photoshop, relying only on iphoto software and further, I edited them on my old tiny macbook with a really dark, cracked screen. The computer was so bad, I had to make small changes one at a time and then post them in a flickr folder to view on my iphone or ipad since they looked completely different on my laptop. I had previously posted a version of this a year ago but re-edited it from scratch using the methods and techniques I use now and am really glad I did. It's funny, I loved the original post of this but now looking back, I can't say I still feel the same way at all. It was way too dark, far too much contrast and missing a substantial amount of the details it had out of the camera. I kept meaning to redo it but kept getting sidetracked by newer and newer sets of images I'd take.
Tomorrow I will start posting some new images I took this past weekend on a very weird, rainy evening on Venice Beach but tonight I'm thinking about autumn, especially as it's now shifting to winter back in DC, where temperatures are in the low 30's at night. I always loved fall weather and some of the gloominess that came with it but really didn't appreciate it until I got into photography and then moved here. I do plan to mix in some more autumn shots from back home as well over the the next couple months, at least until I no longer miss it. There's almost nothing to complain about living in Los Angeles but I do wish Autumn was more like what I was used to and real trees were everywhere. To me, a palm tree is basically just a really strong, resilient weed. it grows in any conditions, doesn't need much water, and I think they're ugly :)
WHEN & WHERE
Monocacy River Bridge
Rocky Ridge, Maryland
November 1st, 2015
SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@35mm
ISO 100
f/8
1/8th second
she cuts through light and shadow like a ship through fog — quiet, unsmiling, unstoppable — a rhythm carved in sun and terrazzo beneath the old porticos.
I don't know a ton about how the weather works but I have come to recognize that I generally see a nice sunset the day after it rains or when haze lifts in the afternoon. This trip fell under the latter category, as early morning fog shifted to haze before finally vanishing in the early afternoon. It's still hard to predict weather beyond that out here and nearly every day reads the same on the extended forecast: sunny and clear or sunny and hazy. Clouds creep in after dark and disappear by morning.
I headed out a bit late and well after the haze had already lifted. By the time I arrived and parked at Venice Beach, the sunset had already started so I found a clean area of beach and set up there quickly. I really intended to arrive in the late afternoon to take advantage of the 10 stop ND filter and maximize the short winter days but I hadn't quite realized yet how unpredictable LA traffic can be from one area to the next.
The first few trips to Venice had been beyond memorable (the third as well since I took Scotch down to the water on a crowded sunday afternoon) and I spent maybe 6 hours and taken roughly 500 long and short exposure shots on those days. I was a bit worried after the first sunset back in january that I'd only be disappointed by comparison so I tried to stay away from Venice for a little and explore further. By the end of February though, I was back at Venice and while the sunset above wasn't as intense as the previous 2, it did offer a really nice pinkish orange sky with a matching hue on the surf and shoreline.
Like the other trips, Venice as a whole was fairly quiet and the beach was mostly empty. In fact, I think there were more boats out at sea than people on the shore. I imagine it's possible to get used to the winter sunsets out here if you live in the area long enough, but I'll certainly never tire of them. The wind was calm and with the light fading, I mostly focused on the great patterns in the foreground along the beach and the break in the waves and used primarily just a CPL on my lens. It was one of those sunsets that lingers a bit after the sun has gone down and the sky and water remained this color until it slowly faded into night.
I haven't shot many sunsets the last few months in part due to weather not cooperating but also so I could spend a lot more time with my rapidly aging dog and get as many portraits of him while he's still willing and able. As I've mentioned numerous times, he's the main reason I got into photography in the first place and though I love taking his portrait, I'm beyond ready for fall weather and the return of some big, memorable sunsets. Hopefully Scotch will join me a few times whenever these sunsets return.
Venice Beach
Venice, California
February 28th, 2016
SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@18mm
ISO 100
f/3.5
1/13th second
CPL
he tips his head back. the flame comes down. for a moment, there is nothing else — not the square, not the crowd, not the night. only this: a man and a fire, the oldest agreement between them.
Here's another shot from my trip to Point Mugu this past Sunday. I really wanted to go to one of the tide pools by Leo Carillo Beach but the memorial day crowds pushed me all the way out to the Ventura County line on the Pacific Coast Highway. I hadn't driven this far before down the coast and kept going further and further since I had no idea when I'd be back this way to explore more. Once I saw this area just before the highway changes direction and realized I now had a really long trip back, I decided to park on the side of the road and take some shots.
This place was really nice even if it wasn't all that impressive of a space. The beach was small and clean with very few rocks and generally very undisturbed. The makeshift entrance was basically a metal sheet storm runoff. Still, one side had the enormous, iconic Point Mugu while this side had giant jagged boulders crumbling from the cliff to the sea. I climbed up carefully and triied to use the wet rocks as a guide to get as close as possible to the water without too much of a risk of getting my gear wet or falling. I don't have a ton of experience with these types of long exposure shots but they are definitely fun to shoot. Will be back soon when I feel like making the 90+ minute drive out there.
Point Mugu Beach
Malibu, California
May 29th, 2016
SETTINGS:
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@59mm
ISO 100
f/14
6.6 seconds
B+W 10 stop ND filter
Tommy Defrogo...
In the canal at Wildwood Park. Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Reference Goodfellas...
Thanks for looking!
While exploring the site of a former WWII POW camp, I saw this nice mushroom along a stream.
Nikon D610 & Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 AFS @ f/16
Axel the miniature dachshund pup leaning in to inspect something floating on the water's surface ~ Poughkeepsie, NY
In my image, notice how some blurry green leaves frame the shot in the bottom-left and bottom-right. When you get low and shoot through foliage, it creates a powerful sense of depth. This technique is often called "framing within the frame." It guides the viewer’s eye through the composition and creates an immersive feeling that you are "inside" the flower bed.
There is a powerful psychological effect to lowering your viewpoint. When you shrink your perspective, it can reintroduce a sense of childhood wonder. You’re not just documenting a flower; you are exploring a tiny forest. This technique helps to transform an ordinary patch of weeds into an intricate and fascinating subject.
Thank you, my friends, for all the views, faves and comments.
Great Blue heron (Ardea herodias).
Wildwood lake, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
I took my time at Mugu Point the last visit, trying hard to get better composed shots as well as a variety of shutter speeds. It had been very cloudy all day and unlike usual, they didn't seem to be going anywhere. As a result, I knew I had plenty of time to get both surface shots and sky shots, especially as it got closer to sundown.
As I've mentioned, I really don't feel comfortable near the edge of any dark water--whether oceans, lakes, ponds etc. This cove was my starting point on both visits to this beach and I navigated in a similar route though the large waves kept me about 10ft further back than the first visit. As a result, some of the great places I set up on last time were regularly under water and I had to find different areas to shoot. There's so many amazing vantages from here and directly behind that it wasn't an issue.
There's something very relaxing about getting to the location you planned to shoot early, moving methodically and slowly to different areas and getting most of the shots off you wanted. When I rush, I make mistakes and this happens most when I arrive late and try to squeeze the last bit out of the sunset. The amount of relaxation for me increases at the ocean (and further when shooting long exposures). It's like being inside of a white noise machine with a nice, steady breeze blowing. Maybe next time I'll bring a beach chair.
Point Mugu Beach
Malibu, California
June 11th, 2016
SETTINGS:
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@50mm
ISO 100
f/13
23 seconds
ND1000
CPL
Descansando tras caminata.
Resting after trekking.
Foto tomada durante el trekking hacia el Toubkal, Marruecos.
This photo was taken during the trekking to Toubkal, Morocco.
A lot of anemones are blooming in my hometown park now. I love this time of year :) At background you can see the small palace, where is the local museum :)
Stada zawilców kwitnące teraz w parku miejskim. Uwielbiam ten czas gdy jest ich tak dużo :) W tle pałacyk, w którym mieści się lokalne muzeum :)
Fall foliage on a beautiful day in Somerville, MA.
This photo falls under "you don't just take the photo, you make the photo." While I do take plenty of quick snapshots, this one took planning and work and post-processing. This spot is right by the course of my daily work routine, though near a less-used route so I hadn't seen it before. One day, I noticed the bright blue chairs and the orange leaves and the beautiful lighting, and I quickly took some photos, trying to get a nice low perspective as if you're being invited to sit in the chairs and relax. You can see the result of that quick photo session here: flic.kr/p/zMtzVo - and also my comments about how while I liked the scene, I was unsatisfied with how the first set of photos came out.
So then, I kept staring at that photo and thinking about why it wasn't quite right. So, I went back the next day (when I had a break in the workday) and I started moving the chairs around and trying different angles and settings, and waiting for the clouds to cover and uncover the sun to get different lighting. I lucked out that the bright leaves were still there, and the lighting was just as good or maybe better with a few clouds in the sky.
In the end, I took about hundred photos to get this one (depending whether you count when the camera saves HDR and normal as one shot or two). Then, once I picked the HDR shot I liked best, I did some processing on it in Snapseed on my iPad to improve the overall lighting and to make the leaves and chairs pop. I feel like after processing, it looks more like how the scene looked in person when it caught my eye. The un-processed version had a lot of dark shadows because of the backlighting, which mess up the camera shot more than the human eye in person.
The other funny thing is that this scene looks really peaceful, but actually, that spot is surrounded by construction, and it was a lot of work for me to frame the shot with no people or machinery in it. Near the end of my photoshoot, someone started mowing the lawn, and I took a few more in between his passes, getting the one of the final shots that I liked just moments before he moved the chairs out of the way and got rid of all the fallen leaves. Probably the loud construction noise is the only reason those chairs were empty for me to photograph on such a beautiful day.
Maybe later, if people are interested, I'll post some behind the scenes stuff: unprocessed and/or non-HDR versions, shots at a different angle showing the construction, etc.
Update Nov 7, 2015: I posted a collage showing some behind the scenes shots on the framing and processing that went into this: www.flickr.com/photos/jesspictures/22457349309/
Update Feb 5 2016: check out the winter version! flic.kr/p/Dp4Bj7
Stokksnes is a headland on the southeastern Icelandic coast, near Hofn and Hornafjördur. This photo was taken during a sunset in Stokksnes , one of my favorite locations for coastal photography along the south east coast of Iceland. A stiched use of my 18mm gives this view of an ultra wide lens.
Selling in the East Village on Christmas Eve 2020 and there's hardly anyone around. When my friend said Manhattan was deserted, he wasn't kidding.
Timelapse Clouds Over A Bristlecone Pine Tree. It was super windy on the ridge and the winds blew in a snow flurry as I was packing up.
#TimelapseTuesday
#LowAngle
#FlickrFriday
#IHateFlickrFriday
#FlickrFridaySux
From 1:05 pm to 2:02pm
About 1012 photos taken every 3 seconds @ 30fps. (I should've uploaded the 48fps vidya)