Category Archives: Photography

At Fall Creek

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I went back to Fall Creek today intending to shoot more leaves in the water.  That had worked nicely the other day but today, unlike then, there was virtually no wind.  Hence few leaves falling in the water.  But there were some.  I especially like the way surface tension shows up.  That can be a design element for photographers.

If there weren’t many leaves there were logs in the water and this was interesting too.

I liked the symmetry here.


There was a lot of color but I thought it distracted from form.  Jay Maisel, an outstanding photographer, repeating what he had been told, once said that color is the enemy of form.  I can see what he means.


A few leaves did show up eventually.  I’ll go back tomorrow.

Indiana Transportation Museum

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Our camera club went to Noblesville, IN last weekend to photograph at the Indiana Transportation Museum.  There were a lot of old train cars on sidings and there were many opportunities for photographers.






Lots of opportunities for simple, graphic and vivid shots.

This image is a combination of three shots, one overexposed, one underexposed and another at the recommended setting.  It was processed with high dynamic range software.  Yes, the colors were that vivid.  The dynamic range of a single shot would not have been sufficient to capture the detail in the lighter and darker areas.


It is well worth visiting the Indiana Transportation Museum.

Leaves and water

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I went over to Fort Harrison State Park yesterday morning.  We had had a long spell of hot weather (record breaking on at least one day) and cooler air followed a front into the area.  In other words, it was still pretty warm but it was windy.  Not a good day for exacting close up work.  But it did mean that leaves would be falling on the water at Fall Creek.  I went down there and it was a bonanza.




The wind did die down long enough to do a little close up work.


I wonder what is out there today?

Wondering around

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Mom patted me on the shoulder and said to the aide: ‘He’s a good boy.’  I turned 71 last week and I’m a good boy.  Well, Mom is 94.


This ‘boy’ doesn’t walk as fast as he used to and that’s good.  The faster you walk the more you have to treat the rest of the stuff in the world as potential obstacles to be avoided.  Walking slower, moseying, means you can see what else is there and perhaps appreciate it more.


One’s eyes don’t have to be old to see what is nearby though.  I ran into a librarian friend of mine this morning who had a young teen-age girl with her.  While we were talking the girl spotted a dead mole and a six inch garter snake and who knows what else within a six foot radius of where we were standing.  My friend tells me the girl is interested in photography.  She indeed has a good eye.


The cycle of the year is approaching its last quarter and if the year is aging it doesn’t appear to be slowing down.  We have defined time in an objective way in hours, minutes and seconds counted off by an atomic clock.  But the experience of time is anything but objective.  It does seem that days rush past faster as we get older but walking more slowly helps bring a bit more sanity to it.


And we can see more interesting stuff.

It’s a time for wondering.

Some flowers

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Going into the woods, a field, anywhere, for that matter, where there are good opportunities for photography is, for me, akin to going into a beautiful cathedral.  There is beauty and if I am still enough inside, there is a Presence.  I spell Presence with a capital ‘P’ because it is something beyond comprehension and while elusive, present none the less, open to awareness at some level.  I think this is one of the main reasons for loving photography.  It brings me closer to the Presence.  I’ll say no more about it now and simply ask you to go out yourself and be open to the Presence.

Here are some of the images I got today in the Presence.





It was a good day.

Life beyond butterflies

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I went over to Fort Harrison State Park this morning and instead of heading to the area where I’ve seen the most butterflies, I went in another direction.  It wasn’t that I didn’t expect to see butterflies in the old location, the question was whether I could find happiness in subjects other than butterflies (soft plaintive violins in the background).


A leaf in the water.  Not bad if all we want to do is aim the camera away from butterflies.  But not too good either.  Try again.


Jewelweed is nice, very bright and I can’t say I have ever noticed an insect like that before; one of the benefits of macro photography.


Now I like that.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve walked by little beauties like this.  Once again, a benefit of going out with a macro lens.  I’ve noticed that when I have a telephoto lens on the camera, I tend to see more telephoto opportunities.  Today I was using my 100 mm macro lens.  This lens works as a moderate telephoto but I tend to think of it more in its macro application.

Here’s the high point of the morning.


I love back lit shots.  A very important lesson came out of this morning’s jaunt.  I was headed east on the Fall Creek Trail because I picked up the trail at its western end – walking toward the sun, accidentally creating the opportunity for back lit shots.  There were many opportunities.  I went a couple of hundred yards past the area of this shot and turned around looking for what other opportunities I could find.  There weren’t many.  If you like back lighting try going east in the morning and west in the evening.  Writing this down is a little embarrassing.  Of course that is what we would do to get back lit shots.  This is one of those points that is so obvious it needs to be stated.

And yes, there is happiness beyond butterflies.

The days grow short when you reach September

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A few days ago the thistle blossoms were covered with butterflies and now the numbers are much reduced.  In the hot weather morning was a good time to see them but cooler weather is here and afternoon is now the better choice.


Photographing butterflies on a windy day is good exercise for toning up the reflexes.  Whoops, that wasn’t a butterfly at all.


And with the cooler weather September Song is the background music.

Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn’t got time for the waiting game

Indeed with the shortening of days the butterflies are fewer and all the more precious.





Don’t wait, go out and shoot.

Fountain Square

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Our camera club went down to Fountain Square last night for a shoot.  Fountain Square is one of the eight cultural districts in Indianapolis which, after a period of decline, is picking itself up and thriving.

I don’t know what it is, but while it is good to visit an area that is coming up in the world, there is something more alluring about the alleys and out of the way places.


A lot of our people had the same idea and while some were on the streets, more seemed to be in the alleys.


Perhaps these areas, roughened up by life have stories to tell.


People live here.  They have lives, they have dignity.


And they have stories.

I couldn’t help myself

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Having published eight images of butterflies in the last couple of days it was time to give them a rest.  Time to move on to other subjects.
Weeds make fine images, lots of texture and even a little drama.  Flowers are good too.

But despite hundreds of acres of foliage, water, birds, etc. at Fort Harrison State Park, I went right back to the butterflies.


They just kept coming.

You may not be able to count them all, but there are nine butterflies in this image:

I suppose I could have called some friends and asked them to talk me out of it but they would have wanted to come along too.

My name is Barry.  I photograph butterflies.

More butterflies

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Here are some more butterflies from Fort Harrison State Park yesterday.






Later this morning I’ll go see if the butterflies are still there.  That will be part of the trip, but it is time to look for something new as well.  But I’ll still check out the butterflies.