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Walking around my yard friday night, I noticed these daylillies calling out to be photographed. So saturday morning I began stalking with my trusty macro lens. The flowers really are in perfect shape. I particularly like these stems (these are stamens, right?), they are so perfect and the curves are very sensuous.
Click on the continue link for another version that is a bit more artsy.
While cruising up the James River on board Oasis, I came across the largest concentration of Osprey I have ever seen. They were everywhere. What a beautiful bird! They are also quite wary of people, so it wasn't easy to get close. I was looking around a lot, trying especially to get a shot of one just snatching a fish out of the water.
But at one point I was just standing in the pilothouse when one of my crewmates looked over my shoulder, pointed and said "hey, what's going on there?" I turned quickly, saw it was an osprey, just grabbed my camera and started firing.
This shot turned out to be about the closest shot I got on the trip. I have been a big fan of birds of prey my whole life. It was fun to see so many in one place.
Here is another image from the Pt Reyes trip in April. There was a similar image I put up back in April, but in this one I went for more of a dreamy, surrealistic look. It's another time exposure, 20 seconds. But in addition to that I used an adjustment in Lightroom called Clarity. It can make edges more defined, when you slide to the right, or soften the image when you slide to the left as I did here.
This picture was taken after the sun went down. The long exposure causes the sky to light up as if the sun was still up. I'm happy with this image. Reminds me of some of my flying dreams. If I could fly like superman, I'd just glide right out over that water and make some lazy turns around the rocks.
As always, if you like the image or have any questions, please comment below!
Yesterday was our first 100 degree day of the year where I live. Well, okay, the car said is was 99, but I'm sure somewhere around here it tipped over 100. I no longer enjoy these kind of temps. I looked longingly at the weather report from Pismo Beach where I'd like to move - in the 70's of course. Love the weather there.
Being a water person, I first think of water when I'm hot. For today's post, I thought I would search my images for a cooling view of flowing water. I took quite a few shots like this when my son and I visited the Sol Duc river in Washington's Olympic Park. In fact, the first post of this blog was from my favorite picture from that same day: http://bobtowery.typepad.com/bob_towery/2009/01/first-post.html.
This particular shot is a little intriguing. Another perspective study. Am I again up on a bridge, looking down at a creek? There's a rock in the middle of the creek. I'm seeing the tops of a tree at left. Makes sense to me.
But in fact, that is a vertical rock wall, and "the creek" is actually a waterfall. I like that lone rock in the middle, and it makes me wonder how long it will be there before nature's forces turn it to sand at the bottom of these falls? I also very much like the tree (is it a maple of some kind?) poking in from the left. This adds "dramatic tension" to the image because it continues out of frame. The various plants all over the image give it a nice sense of balance.
Oh to be there and feel that cool, pure mountain water, mist on my face!
This location is one of the best I have discovered for abstract shots. This particular image is one of my favorites, although heck, I have so many from this spot.
Anyone know what the name of this place is? Well, if you don't know the name, how do you like the image?
Digging out the Arlington pictures for yesterday's post, I came across some other images I'm quite fond of. The architecture there is just lovely. Fabulous granite and marble. Standing there, you realize US Presidents have been standing in the same spot as you, since at least the 50's.
What do you think of this beautiful spot, and the image?
In my family, we have a little bit of military. My Dad was in the Coast Guard, his brother was in the Navy. My wife's Dad was in the Navy in WW2. But one couple in my family really made a commitment to the Army. We visited them in years past in DC, and one of their recommendations was to visit Arlington National Cemetery, and especially to witness the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Having no idea what to expect, and basically being a tourist, I went along. I was totally unprepared for how moving the experience would be. This isn't a political forum, but I have to see that I felt an amount of pride in our country that I certainly don't experience day to day. If you find yourself in DC, I highly recommend this experience.
You can read about it here on Wikipedia.
My best wishes to everyone on Memorial Day. And please comment on the images if you feel inclined to.
I thought I would follow up yesterday's blog post with an artistic attempt of my own for Apollo. This is of course the Apollo 12 capsule at the Virginia Air and Space Museum. I took several shots for the purpose of trying to turn them into something artistic.
I used both Lightroom and Photoshop to achieve the effect. Probably the most notable effect, besides the coloration, is the "Poster edges" filter which sharply defines all the edges. This particular filter is a favorite of my friend Cliff, and since I was with him there at the museum, it's fitting that I use it on this image!
My goal was to make an interesting image, one that both highlights the beauty of this engineering, as well as shows the wear and tear involved in a trip to the moon and back. How did I do?
As I have mentioned before on the blog, I am a huge space fan. Especially Apollo era space stories.
While on my recent boat trip up the Atlantic coast I had a chance to both see an important Apollo artifact, and also have some interesting time near Kennedy Space Center to reflect. With the Atlantis space shuttle coming home today or tomorrow, I think now is the time for this post. Click on the continue link to read more and see the pictures.
Readers of my blog know that early in 2009 I acquired a 400mm fixed telephoto, and I have created numerous memorable images with it. And then there were my bird of prey pictures from the Chesapeake, where the 400 just did not have enough reach.
So when a quality used telephoto comes along, you need to think about it right?
Click the continue link for more important information about the lens above.
Continue reading "Fun Friday - slightly used Telephoto available" »
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